SynthesisInternational journal of obesity (2005)2016
Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and childhood physical and cognitive development of children: a systematic review.
Synthesis in International journal of obesity (2005), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of parental overweight and obesity on offspring's mental health: A meta-analysis of observational studies.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring: a systematic review, meta-analysis and quasi-experimental family-based study.International journal of epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- Association between maternal overweight or obesity and cerebral palsy in children: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Associations of early pregnancy BMI with adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant neurocognitive development.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Rethinking Maternal Obesity Research in a Changing Clinical Landscape.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2026Article
- Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children aged 18-36 months: a nationwide cohort study in Korea.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Gestational diabetes mellitus and children's social-emotional development, behavioral problems, and psychological adjustment.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Maternal Overweight and Obesity Alter Neurodevelopmental Trajectories During the First Year of Life: Findings from the OBESO Cohort.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Maternal Prepregnancy Obesity and Offspring Intelligence Quotient at 5 Years: A Multicohort Analysis.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- The Impact of Parental Preconception Nutrition, Body Weight, and Exercise Habits on Offspring Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Maternal obesity increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma through the transmission of an altered gut microbiome.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2024Article
- Maternal Pre-Pregnancy BMI and Gestational Weight Gain Are Associated with Preschool Children's Neuropsychological Outcomes in the APrON Cohort.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Maternal obesity: Perinatal implications.SAGE open medicine · 2023Review
- Human placental lipid content and lipid metabolic enzyme abundance in obesity and across gestation.Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2022Article
- Prepare randomized clinical trial: Acceptability, engagement, and lifestyle effects of a weight loss intervention beginning in pre-pregnancy.Obesity science & practice · 2022Article
- Morbidity and psychomotor development of offspring of women with gestational diabetes: a 5-year follow-up.BMC pediatrics · 2022Article
- Impact of Maternal Obesity on Liver Disease in the Offspring: A Comprehensive Transcriptomic Analysis and Confirmation of Results in a Murine Model.Biomedicines · 2022Article
- Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI associates with neonate local and distal functional connectivity of the left superior frontal gyrus.Scientific reports · 2021Observational
- Prenatal maternal C-reactive protein prospectively predicts child executive functioning at ages 4-6 years.Developmental psychobiology · 2020Article
- Association of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index With Fetal Growth and Neonatal Thalamic Brain Connectivity Among Adolescent and Young Women.JAMA network open · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveMaternal obesity, usually associated with the adverse birth outcomes, has been a serious public health concern. Studies examining its effect on the physical and cognitive development of children have only recently emerged and the findings are inconsistent. This review aimed to systematically examine the role of maternal obesity on children's physical and cognitive development using the available evidence.
methodsThe CINAHL, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, PUBMED and SCOPUS databases were searched. Studies addressing children's (⩽12 years) physical and cognitive development as outcome and maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index as an exposure were included. Data were extracted and evaluated for quality by two independent reviewers.
resultsA total of 17 articles were eligible for this systematic review; 10 of them were birth cohorts from the USA. Nine of the 14 studies supported an adverse association between maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and childhood cognitive development. A few studies also demonstrated a negative association between the maternal obesity and gross motor function in children (5 of 10), but not with fine motor function (none out of five studies). Whether the observed negative association between the maternal obesity and children's cognitive and gross motor abilities is casual or due to residual confounding effects is unclear. The current evidence is based on a limited number of studies with heterogeneous measurement scales and obesity definition.
conclusionsFrom the available evidence, it seems that exposure to maternal pre-pregnancy obesity in the intrauterine environment has a detrimental effect on children's cognitive development. However, evidence of the association between the maternal obesity and physical development of children is too scarce to offer a conclusion. More research work is required to delineate the intrauterine effect of the maternal obesity from the residual confounding effects.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.