Associations of Maternal Prenatal Inflammation With Child Adiposity: The Healthy Start Study
Authors' conclusion
Prenatal inflammation may predispose offspring to greater adiposity during early childhood. This association is partially explained by maternal BMI and driven by participants of Hispanic ethnicity.
Study context
- Population
- Mother-offspring pairs in the Healthy Start Study; CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α measured at ≈28 gestational weeks; offspring assessed at 4–6 years
- Participants
- 555 mother-offspring pairs
- Exposure
- Per increment in prenatal inflammation z-score
- Outcome
- Offspring BMI z-score, waist circumference and % fat mass (air displacement plethysmography)
- Follow-up
- 4-6 years
Methodological detailspre-birth cohort, exploratory stratified analysis by maternal race/ethnicity
- Pre-birth cohort
- Exploratory stratified analysis by maternal race/ethnicity
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Offspring adiposity per increment in prenatal inflammation z-score (adjusted for offspring age and sex)
Higher body mass index (BMI) z-score
0.31
95% CI 0.14, 0.48
Higher waist circumference
1.43 (0.61, 2.25) cm
Higher %FM
1.47
0.43, 2.51
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Further adjusted for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI · 4-6 years
- %FM
- 0.77 [−0.39, 1.94]; p = 0.19
- BMI z-score and waist circumference: estimates attenuated to the null
Stratified by maternal race/ethnicity
- Associations driven by Hispanic mother-offspring pairs
- Exploratory analysis
Original publication
Associations of Maternal Prenatal Inflammation With Child Adiposity: The Healthy Start Study. Pediatr Obes. Published 1 February 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →