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Maternal-recalled gestational weight gain, pre-pregnancy body mass index, and obesity in the daughter

International Journal of Obesity volume 33, pages 743–752 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

Emerging evidence suggests that exposures during fetal life affect adult metabolism. We assessed the relationship between recalled maternal pre-pregnancy body mass, gestational weight gain (GWG), and adiposity in the daughter.

Design:

Retrospective cohort study among mother–nurse daughter dyads in the Nurses’ Health Study II and the Nurses’ Mothers’ Cohort. Mothers of participants completed questionnaires regarding their nurse daughter in 2001.

Participants:

26,506 mother–nurse daughter dyads born between 1946 and 1964.

Main outcome measures:

Body mass index (BMI) of the nurse daughter at age 18 and in 2001.

Results:

At age 18, 561 (2.1%) daughters were obese (BMI>30), and in 2001, 5442 (22.0%) were obese. Adjusting for covariates, women whose mothers had a recalled pre-pregnancy BMI of 29 had a 6.1-fold increased risk of obesity at age 18 and a 3.4-fold risk of obesity in 2001, compared with women whose mothers had a pre-pregnancy BMI of 21. We found a U-shaped association between recalled GWG and offspring obesity. Compared with a maternal weight gain of 15–19 lb, GWG <10 lb was associated with a significant increase in obesity risk at age 18 (odds ratio (OR) 1.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–2.34) and in 2001 (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.05–1.53). High weight gain (40+lb) was also associated with obesity risk at age 18 (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.22–2.69) and in 2001 (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.48–2.04). These associations were stronger among mothers who were overweight before pregnancy (P for interaction=0.03), and they persisted with adjustment for birth weight.

Conclusion:

A high recalled pre-pregnancy BMI and extremes of recalled GWG are associated with an increased risk of adolescent and adult obesity in offspring, particularly when the mother is overweight. Pre-pregnancy weight and GWG may be modifiable fetal origins of overweight and obesity in women.

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Acknowledgements

Preliminary findings were presented at the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, San Francisco, California, February 2007. The NHS II is supported by Public Health Service grant CA50385 from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Nurses’ Mothers’ Cohort Study was funded by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute (to MRF)—research contract N02-RC-17027 from the National Cancer Institute, and by PO 263 MQ 411027 from the National Cancer Institute (to KBM). One of the study authors (MRF) was a member of the Intramural Program at The National Cancer Institute at the time the Nurses’ Mothers’ Cohort study was designed and the data were collected. For this manuscript, the National Cancer Institute had no involvement in the analysis and interpretation of the data, or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. The authors had full access to the data for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics, Division of Maternal–Fetal Medicine, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    A M Stuebe

  2. Department of Epidemiology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    M R Forman

  3. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    K B Michels

  4. Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medicine School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    K B Michels

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    K B Michels

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  1. A M Stuebe
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Correspondence to A M Stuebe.

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Stuebe, A., Forman, M. & Michels, K. Maternal-recalled gestational weight gain, pre-pregnancy body mass index, and obesity in the daughter. Int J Obes 33, 743–752 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.101

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