ArticleBMC public health2019
Overall gestational weight gain mediates the relationship between maternal and child obesity.
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Maternal Overnutrition in Pregnancy Predicts Greater Body Mass Index Gains in Offspring by Early Midlife: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum culinary nutrition education interventions: a systematic review.Nutrition reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Change in modifiable maternal characteristics and behaviours between consecutive pregnancies and offspring adiposity: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2020Pooled it
- Exclusively Digital Health Interventions Targeting Diet, Physical Activity, and Weight Gain in Pregnant Women: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Pooled it
- Protective Effect of Prenatal Social Support on the Intergenerational Transmission of Obesity in Low-Income Hispanic Families.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2023Trial
- Early-Life Nutritional Determinants of Pediatric MASLD.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Impact of maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain on offspring's weight and BMI z-scores across the first 8 years of life.Clinical obesity · 2025Article
- Early Roots of Childhood Obesity: Risk Factors, Mechanisms, and Prevention Strategies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Healthcare related barriers and enablers for weight management among pregnant women with overweight and obesity: a rapid scoping review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Differential Impacts of Prenatal Supplement Intake on Childhood Obesity Markers, Stratified by Gender and Other Prenatal Factors.Journal of obesity · 2025Article
- What is the influence of maternal weight gain in different gestational clinical conditions on the prole weight in pre-school age?Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Observational
- Women's experience of body weight management during and post-pregnancy: a mixed methods approach.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Long-term impact of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI on the risk of overweight/obesity in preschool children: mediation by infant birth weight and BMI trajectory group from 0 to 2 years.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Children's behaviour and childhood obesity.Pediatric endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism · 2024Review
- The Uterine Environment and Childhood Obesity Risk: Mechanisms and Predictions.Current nutrition reports · 2023Review
- Excess glucose or fat differentially affects metabolism and appetite-related gene expression during zebrafish embryogenesis.iScience · 2023Article
- Maternal Pre-Pregnancy BMI, Offspring Adiposity in Late Childhood, and Age of Weaning: A Causal Mediation Analysis.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Associations of the Neighborhood Built Environment with Gestational Weight Gain.American journal of perinatology · 2023Article
- Association between maternal weight gain during pregnancy and child's body mass index at preschool age.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2023Article
- Anti-inflammatory diets reduce the risk of excessive gestational weight gain in urban South Africans from the Soweto First 1000-Day Study (S1000).European journal of nutrition · 2022Article
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundApproximately 17% of children in the U.S. are obese. Children that are overweight or obese are also more likely to be obese as adults and suffer from various chronic diseases and premature death. Maternal obesity can affect the weight status of her offspring through intrauterine mechanisms like excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). Current literature shows a positive association between maternal weight status and GWG on child obesity, yet the direct and indirect effects have not been decomposed or quantified. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of maternal obesity on child obesity, mediated by GWG, which is a modifiable risk factor.
methodsThe study participants were a birth cohort of offspring from women who received prenatal care in the Duke/Durham Regional health care system in Durham, NC between 2005 and 2009. Anthropomorphic data was collected via electronic medical records (EMRs) during each voluntary visit to a health care facility. The exposure of interest was maternal obesity, measured by pre-pregnancy body mass index, the mediator was GWG, dichotomized into excessive and not excessive based on maternal prenatal BMI, and the outcome was child obesity at age 4, measured as BMI z-scores from the last recorded height and weight. A counterfactual theory-based product method analysis estimated the mediated effects of GWG, adjusted for maternal race, socioeconomic status, and smoking status.
resultsOf the 766 children, 25% were overweight or obese, and among all mothers, 25 and 31% were overweight and obese, respectively. Maternal BMI was associated with an overall increase of 0.04 in offspring z-score. The proportion of the effect of maternal obesity on child age 4 obesity mediated by GWG was 8.1%.
conclusionGWG, in part, mediated the relationship between maternal BMI and childhood adiposity. Even when the mediator is fixed, children are at an increased risk of a higher BMI if the mother is obese. These findings highlight an important public health education opportunity to stress the impact of a pre-pregnancy weight and excessive GWG on the risk of child obesity for all mothers.
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