Maternal and Childhood Weight and Brain Structure in Children: Separate and Combined Associations in a Cross‐Sectional Study
Authors' conclusion
Higher BMI in both children and mothers, separately and jointly, was associated with gray matter differences in obesity-related regions. Longitudinal studies are needed to establish temporal relationships, mechanisms, biomarkers, and functional implications.
Study context
- Population
- 6-year-old children and their mothers (60% girls)
- Participants
- 99 mother-child pairs
- Exposure
- Groups by pregravid BMI and child BMI
- Outcome
- Brain structure on T1-weighted MRI (cortical thickness, sulcal depth, gyrification, subcortical volumes)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- High pregravid BMI associated with thicker right superior temporal gyrus
- High child BMI linked to greater gyrification in temporo-cingulate cortices
- Both maternal and child higher BMI related to thinner right cuneus and smaller right accumbens and pallidum
- Children with higher BMI born to mothers with higher BMI: deeper sulci in left caudal middle frontal gyrus and reduced gyrification in left entorhinal cortex
- ANCOVA adjusted for age, sex, parental education, birth weight (and total intracranial volume in non-thickness models); Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc tests
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Maternal and Childhood Weight and Brain Structure in Children: Separate and Combined Associations in a Cross‐Sectional Study. Obesity (Silver Spring). Published 5 February 2026. doi:10.
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