Endocrine Abstracts

JOINT1167

Introduction: Maternal pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) are associated with outcomes for the mother and her offspring. A high maternal pre-pregnancy BMI is associated with increased risk of childhood obesity and excessive GWG is associated with higher neonatal body fat and birth weight as well as metabolic outcomes as Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). We aimed to explore the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring BMI z-scores at three years of age. We also explored the associations between GWG and 1) offspring body fat percentage (BF%) measured using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and 2) offspring HbA1c at three years of age.

Methods: FitKids is a follow-up study on three-year-old offspring from pregnant women, who participated in a randomized controlled trial, FitMum, conducted at North Zealand Hospital, DK, from 2018-2021. 68 children (39 boys) with a mean age of 3.3 (SD 0.2) years participated in FitKids. BMI z-scores were calculated for all children, 53 children were DXA-scanned and 38 provided blood samples. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was calculated. Estimates of GWG for a standardized pregnancy period were predicted using a model based on longitudinally observed body weights during pregnancy and at admission for delivery. Associations between maternal GWG and offspring BF% and HbA1c were analyzed using linear regression analyses. The same applied for the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring BMI z-score at age three. All models were unadjusted.

Results: Mean pre-pregnancy BMI was 26.4 kg/m² (SD 5, 7) and mean GWG was 15.2 kg (SD 6.0). Mean offspring BF% was 25.8% (SD 3.4) and mean offspring HbA1C was 33.7 (SD 2.5). We found an association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring BMI z-score at age three (slope 0.046, P = 0.028). There was neither an association between maternal GWG and offspring BF% at three years of age (slope 0.075, P = 0.394) nor an association between maternal GWG and offspring HbA1c (slope 0.027, P = 0.179.

Conclusion: A higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with a higher BMI z-score at three years of age. Maternal GWG did not affect offspring BF% or HbA1c at three years of age.

1. Conflict of Interest: None Disclosed

2. Funding Research relating to this abstract was funded by The Novo Nordisk Foundation