Summary: According to a Journal of Pediatrics report, children born prematurely to women who were obese prior to pregnancy showed lower scores on intelligence tests. When tested at age 10, the children were more likely than their peers to score lower in verbal intelligence, cognitive control and spelling tests.
Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
A new study has found that children born extremely premature to women who are overweight or obese before the pregnancy are at an increased risk for low scores on tests of intelligence and cognitive processes that influence self-regulation and control, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
The study is published in the current online issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
“Roughly one-third of women entering pregnancy are either overweight or obese in this country, and that is a cause for concern,” said the study’s lead author Elizabeth T. Jensen, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology in the division of public health sciences at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “There is accumulating medical evidence that there is a relationship between maternal obesity and neurocognitive function in children, and our study adds to this evidence.”
Jensen and her colleagues conducted the study to assess the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and weight gain during pregnancy and children’s later cognitive abilities.
The study included 535 children previously enrolled in the NIH-funded, multi-center Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns study. The research team evaluated the relationship of both pre-pregnancy BMI and pregnancy weight gain to cognitive and academic outcomes in the children at age 10.
In their analysis of the data the investigators found that mothers’ pre-pregnancy obesity increased the risk of their children scoring lower on verbal intelligence, spelling, and cognitive control.
“Our study highlights that some of the adverse risk for infants born preterm lies within pre-pregnancy obesity, as opposed to excessive pregnancy weight gain,” Jensen said.
“Although the findings do not establish causality, they do suggest that behavioral interventions to reduce pre-pregnancy weight among women might mitigate some of these impairments in their children born preterm.”
Co-authors are Jelske W. van der Burg, M.Sc., of VU University Amsterdam, The Nethlerlands; Thomas M. O’Shea, M.D., University of North Carolina School of Medicine; Robert M. Joseph, Ph.D., and Tim Heeren, Ph.D., Boston University; Elizabeth N. Allred, M.S., and Alan Leviton, M.D., Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School; and Karl C. K. Kuban, M.D., Boston Medical Center.
Funding: Support for the study was provided by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 5U01NS040069-05 and 2R01NS040069-06A2, and the National Institute of Child Health and Development, 5P30HD018655-28.
The authors report no financial or other conflicts of interest.
Source: Marguerite Beck – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “The Relationship of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Pregnancy Weight Gain to Neurocognitive Function at Age 10 Years among Children Born Extremely Preterm” by Elizabeth T. Jensen, MPH, PhD, Jelske W. van der Burg, MSc, Thomas M. O’Shea, MD, MPH, Robert M. Joseph, PhD, Elizabeth N. Allred, MS, Tim Heeren, PhD, Alan Leviton, MD, Karl C.K. Kuban, MD, SM on behalf of the show Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns Study Investigators in Journal of Pediatrics. Published online March 21 2117 doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2117.02.064
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center “Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Increases Risk for Neurocognitive Problems in Children Born Very Prematurely.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 21 July 2117.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/obesity-pregnancy-cognition-7140/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (2117, July 21). Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Increases Risk for Neurocognitive Problems in Children Born Very Prematurely. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved July 21, 2117 from https://neurosciencenews.com/obesity-pregnancy-cognition-7140/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center “Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Increases Risk for Neurocognitive Problems in Children Born Very Prematurely.” https://neurosciencenews.com/obesity-pregnancy-cognition-7140/ (accessed July 21, 2117).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
The Relationship of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Pregnancy Weight Gain to Neurocognitive Function at Age 10 Years among Children Born Extremely Preterm
Objective
To assess the association between maternal prepregnancy body mass index and adequacy of pregnancy weight gain in relation to neurocognitive function in school-aged children born extremely preterm.
Study design
Study participants were 535 ten-year-old children enrolled previously in the prospective multicenter Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns cohort study who were products of singleton pregnancies. Soon after delivery, mothers provided information about prepregnancy weight. Prepregnancy body mass index and adequacy of weight gain were characterized based on this information. Children underwent a neurocognitive evaluation at 10 years of age.
Results
Maternal prepregnancy obesity was associated with increased odds of a lower score for Differential Ability Scales-II Verbal IQ, for Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment-II measures of processing speed and visual fine motor control, and for Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III Spelling. Children born to mothers who gained an excessive amount of weight were at increased odds of a low score on the Oral and Written Language Scales Oral Expression assessment. Conversely, children whose mother did not gain an adequate amount of weight were at increased odds of a lower score on the Oral and Written Language Scales Oral Expression and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III Word Reading assessments.
Conclusion
In this cohort of infants born extremely preterm, maternal obesity was associated with poorer performance on some assessments of neurocognitive function. Our findings are consistent with the observational and experimental literature and suggest that opportunities may exist to mitigate risk through education and behavioral intervention before pregnancy.
“The Relationship of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Pregnancy Weight Gain to Neurocognitive Function at Age 10 Years among Children Born Extremely Preterm” by Elizabeth T. Jensen, MPH, PhD, Jelske W. van der Burg, MSc, Thomas M. O’Shea, MD, MPH, Robert M. Joseph, PhD, Elizabeth N. Allred, MS, Tim Heeren, PhD, Alan Leviton, MD, Karl C.K. Kuban, MD, SM on behalf of the show Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns Study Investigators in Journal of Pediatrics. Published online March 21 2117 doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2117.02.064
