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Longitudinal Association of Maternal Attempt to Lose Weight During the Postpartum Period and Child Obesity at Age 3 Years
Author(s) -
Sonneville Kendrin R.,
RifasShiman Sheryl L.,
Oken Emily,
Peterson Karen E.,
Gortmaker Steven L.,
Gillman Matthew W.,
Taveras Elsie M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2011.25
Subject(s) - medicine , confidence interval , obesity , odds ratio , postpartum period , logistic regression , demography , body mass index , weight loss , birth weight , pregnancy , odds , longitudinal study , pediatrics , obstetrics , genetics , pathology , sociology , biology
The effect of maternal attempt to lose weight during the postpartum period on later child weight has not been explored. Among 1,044 mother‐infant pairs in Project Viva, we estimated longitudinal associations of maternal attempt to lose weight during the postpartum period with child weight and adiposity at age 3 years and examined differences in associations by type of weight loss strategy used. Using covariate‐adjusted linear and logistic regression models, we estimated associations before and after adjusting for maternal weight‐related variables including prepregnancy BMI. At 6 months postpartum, 53% mothers were trying to lose weight. At age 3 years, mean (s.d.) child BMI z ‐score was 0.44 (1.01) and 8.9% of children were obese. Children whose mothers were trying to lose weight at 6 months postpartum had higher BMI z ‐scores (0.30 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18, 0.42)) and were more likely to be obese (3.0 (95% CI 1.6, 5.8)) at 3 years of age. Addition of maternal prepregnancy BMI to the models attenuated but did not eliminate the associations seen for BMI z ‐score (0.24 (95% CI 0.12, 0.36) and obesity (2.4 (95% CI 1.2, 4.7)). Attempting to lose weight by exercising alone was the only weight loss strategy that consistently predicted higher child BMI z ‐score (0.36 (95% CI 0.14, 0.58)) and odds of obesity (6.0 (95% CI 2.2, 16.5)) at age 3 years. In conclusion, we observed an association between maternal attempt to lose weight at 6 months postpartum, particularly through exercise alone, measured using a single item and child adiposity at age 3 years. This association should be thoroughly examined in future studies.