Gestational diabetes & diabetes in pregnancy
Intergenerational associations between maternal body mass index before or during pregnancy with offspring metabolomics: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors' conclusion
Our study highlights a potential intergenerational association between maternal BMI and offspring metabolomic profiles. Interventions on maternal BMI before or during pregnancy showed the potential to reverse the adverse changes in offspring's metabolic profiles, but long-term health benefits warrant to be verified.
Study context
- Population
- Mother-offspring pairs (57 to 10,251 per study); offspring from newborns (10 of 15 studies) to early-mid childhood (4) and adolescents and adults (1); Pre-pregnancy BMI (ppBMI) in 10 studies, booking body mass index (BMI) in the rest15 studies
- Comparison
- Maternal BMI before or during pregnancy and offspring metabolomic profiles
- Outcome
- Offspring metabolomic profiles
Methodological details12 observational and 3 intervention studies, 6 databases searched
- 12 observational and 3 intervention studies
- 6 databases searched
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Association of maternal BMI with offspring metabolomic profiles
- Maternal BMI before or during pregnancy positively associated with adverse offspring metabolomic profiles
- Lipids: higher TG, total cholesterol and lower HDL-C
- Amino acids: higher branched-chain and aromatic amino acids
- Carbohydrate-related metabolites: higher glucose and insulin
- Lipid results most consistent in both observational and intervention studies
- Impact on offspring metabolomics from birth till adolescence and young adulthood
Original publication
Intergenerational associations between maternal body mass index before or during pregnancy with offspring metabolomics: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Obes (Lond). Published 15 July 2025. doi:10.
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