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Caesarean delivery is associated with childhood general obesity but not abdominal obesity in I ranian elementary school children
Author(s) -
SalehiAbargouei Amin,
Shiranian Afshin,
Ehsani Simin,
Surkan Pamela J.,
Esmaillzadeh Ahmad
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12711
Subject(s) - medicine , childhood obesity , obesity , abdominal obesity , caesarean delivery , pediatrics , obstetrics , caesarean section , pregnancy , endocrinology , overweight , metabolic syndrome , biology , genetics
Aim This study examined the association between C aesarean delivery and general and abdominal obesity among children. Methods In a cross‐sectional study, 635 children aged from 6 to 12 years of age (476 girls and 159 boys) were randomly selected from I sfahan elementary schools. Weight, height and waist circumference were measured. General obesity and abdominal obesity were defined based on W orld H ealth O rganization growth charts and I ranian national cut‐off points, respectively. Parents were asked about delivery type and other factors potentially related to childhood obesity using a self‐administered questionnaire. The association between delivery type and obesity was examined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Results The overall prevalence of general and central obesity was 17.6% and 17.1%, respectively, and C aesarean delivery was significantly associated with general obesity after controlling for potential confounders ( OR : 2.46; 95% CI : 1.30–4.63, p = 0.005). We observed a significant association between C aesarean delivery and abdominal obesity in crude analyses ( OR : 1.66; 1.02–2.69, p = 0.04), but this disappeared after adjusting for covariates ( OR : 1.96; 0.82–4.69, p = 0.13). Conclusion Our results suggest that C aesarean delivery is adversely associated with general childhood obesity, but not abdominal obesity. This provides support for recommending vaginal births, unless contraindicated. Further research in large populations is required to confirm these findings.