The associations between maternal BMI and gestational weight gain and health outcomes in offspring at age 1 and 7 years

Abstract

In secondary analyses of a randomised controlled trial of exercise during pregnancy, we examined associations between mid-pregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) with offspring health. Follow-up data were available on 57 mother–child pairs at 1-year and 52 pairs at 7-year follow-ups. Clinical assessments included body composition and fasting blood tests. At age 1\xa0year, increased maternal BMI in mid-gestation was associated with greater weight standard deviation scores (SDS) in the offspring (p\u2009=\u20090.035), with no observed associations for excessive GWG. At age 7\xa0years, greater maternal BMI was associated with increased weight SDS (p\u2009<\u20090.001), BMI SDS (p\u2009=\u20090.005), and total body fat percentage (p\u2009=\u20090.037) in their children. Irrespective of maternal BMI, children born to mothers with excessive GWG had greater abdominal adiposity (p\u2009=\u20090.043) and less favourable lipid profile (lower HDL-C and higher triglycerides). At 7\xa0years, maternal BMI and excessive GWG had compounded adverse associations with offspring adiposity. Compared to offspring of mothers with overweight/obesity plus excessive GWG, children of normal-weight mothers with adequate and excessive GWG were 0.97 and 0.64 SDS lighter (p\u2009=\u20090.002 and p\u2009=\u20090.014, respectively), and 0.98 and 0.63 SDS leaner (p\u2009=\u20090.001 and p\u2009=\u20090.014, respectively). Both greater maternal BMI in mid-pregnancy and excessive GWG were independently associated with increased adiposity in offspring at 7\xa0years.