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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Environ Pollut. 2020 Aug 15;267:115427. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115427

Table 1:

Sample characteristics of the original StEP cohort, the total analytic sample with newborn dried blood spots, and subgroups based on infant weight status at 18 months old.

StEP RCT Newborn Dried Blood Spot (DBS) Samples Analyzed

Characteristics Total StEP Sample (n=533) Total DBS Sample (n=98) Healthy Weight Sample (n=46) Overweight Sample (n=52)

Expectant Mother
 Maternal age, years [mean (SD)] 27.7 (5.9) 28.7 (5.6) 27.6 (6.0) 29.8 (5.2)
 Primiparous, % 37.3 34.7 39.1 30.8
 US born, %a 20.1 16.3 17.4 15.4
 Married or living as married, % 71.1 73.5 69.6 76.9
 Education (< high school), % 33.2 35.7 41.3 30.8
 Pre-pregnancy weight status, %
 Underweight 1.6 2.1 0.0 4.0
 Healthy weight 34.4 24.7 32.6 17.6
 Overweight 33.5 35.1 37.0 33.3
 Obese 30.5 38.1 30.4 45.1
 Household food insecurity, % 31.0 29.6 30.4 28.8
 Prenatal depressive symptomsa, % 34.0 28.6 19.6 36.5
Birth
 Male sex, % 49.0 51.0 41.3 59.6
 Cesarean delivery, % 19.5 29.6 23.9 34.6
 Gestational age [mean (SD)] 39.1 (1.33) 39.3 (1.32) 39.0 (1.46) 39.4 (1.17)
Prenatal Diet Qualityb
 Total score [mean (SD)] 69.0 (9.4) 69.7 (9.0) 70.2 (8.4) 69.3 (9.6)
 Total vegetablesc, % 34.7 42.7 45.7 40.0
 Greens and beansc, % 65.5 71.1 73.9 68.6
 Total fruitc, % 54.5 58.8 63.0 54.9
 Whole fruitc, % 51.6 57.9 60.9 55.1
 Whole grainsc, % 2.9 4.1 2.2 5.9
 Dairyc, % 25.2 25.0 23.9 26.0
 Total proteinc, % 62.4 63.9 58.7 68.6
 Seafood and plant proteinc, % 61.5 66.3 60.0 72.0
 Fatty acidsc, % 15.6 14.6 15.6 13.7
 Sodiumc, % 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.0
 Refined grainsc, % 20.2 22.9 26.1 20.0
 Saturated fatsc, % 7.1 3.1 2.2 3.9
 Added sugarsc, % 33.5 44.7 44.4 44.9
Newborn Blood Spot Chemical Concentrations (ng/ml) d,e
 PBDE28 - 0.024 (0.018) 0.024 (0.017) 0.025 (0.021)
 PBDE47 - 0.280 (0.191) 0.287 (0.163) 0.265 (0.239)
 PBDE99 - 0.154 (0.143) 0.181 (0.203) 0.152 (0.134)
 DDE - 0.524 (0.728) 0.671 (1.482) 0.300 (0.561)
 PFOA - 0.376 (0.249) 0.346 (0.218) 0.391 (0.262)
 PFOS - 0.440 (0.364) 0.522 (0.366) 0.365 (0.339)
 PFNA - 0.151 (0.123) 0.162 (0.134) 0.138 (0.115)
 PFHxS - 0.108 (0.065) 0.109 (0.074) 0.104 (0.064)
a

Prenatal depressive symptoms were defined as a score of 5 or greater on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9.

b

Of the 541 participants who fully completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire, 519 women (95.9%) had plausible energy intakes between 500 and 5,000 kcal and were included in analyses.

c

Percentage of participants meeting HEI recommendations for each of the 13 adequacy and moderation components of the Healthy Eating Index [HEI].

d

PBDE28, polybrominated diphenyl ether 28; PBDE47, polybrominated diphenyl ether 47; PBDE99, polybrominated diphenyl ether 99; DDE, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; PFOA, perfluorooctanoate; PFOS, perfluorooctanesulfonate; PFNA, perfluorononanoate; PFHxS, perfluorohexanesulfate.

e

Median (IQR) of concentrations provided for participated with detectable levels. Sample size varied secondary to excluding undetectable levels (PBDE28 n=58; PBDE47 n=98; PBDE99 n=95; DDE n=94; PFOA n=99; PFOS n=100; PFNA n=100; PFHxS n=97).