Maternal stress and early childhood BMI among US children from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program

Background We aimed to understand the association between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood body mass index (BMI) from 2 to 4 years of age in a large, prospective United States-based consortium of cohorts. Methods We used data from the Environmental influences on Child Health O...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Pediatric research Vol. 94; no. 6; pp. 2085 - 2091
Main Authors:	Wood, Charles T., Churchill, Marie L., McGrath, Monica, Aschner, Judy, Brunwasser, Steven M., Geiger, Sarah, Gogcu, Semsa, Hartert, Tina V., Hipwell, Allison E., Lee-Sarwar, Kathleen, Lyall, Kristen, Moog, Nora K., O’Connor, Thomas G., O’Shea, T. Michael, Smith, P. Brian, Wright, Rosalind J., Zhang, Xueying, Zimmerman, Emily, Huddleston, Kathi C., Brown, Callie L.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	New York Nature Publishing Group US 01-12-2023 Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:	Birth Weight Body Mass Index Child Child, Preschool Childrens health Ethnicity Health insurance Humans Infant Medicine Medicine & Public Health Outcome Assessment, Health Care Pediatric Surgery Pediatrics Population Study Article Prospective Studies Risk Factors United States - epidemiology United States United States > US
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Summary:	Background We aimed to understand the association between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood body mass index (BMI) from 2 to 4 years of age in a large, prospective United States-based consortium of cohorts. Methods We used data from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program. The main exposure was maternal stress in the first year of life measured with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The main outcome was the first childhood BMI percentile after age 2 until age 4 years. We used an adjusted linear mixed effects model to examine associations between BMI and PSS quartile. Results The mean BMI percentile in children was 59.8 (SD 30) measured at 3.0 years (SD 1) on average. In both crude models and models adjusted for maternal BMI, age, race, ethnicity, infant birthweight, and health insurance status, no linear associations were observed between maternal stress and child BMI. Conclusions Among 1694 maternal–infant dyads, we found no statistically significant relationships between maternal perceived stress in the first year of life and child BMI after 2 through 4 years. Impact Although existing literature suggests relationships between parental stress and childhood BMI, we found no linear associations between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood BMI at 2–4 years of age among participants in ECHO cohorts. Higher maternal stress was significantly associated with Hispanic ethnicity, Black race, and public health insurance. Our analysis of a large, nationally representative sample challenges assumptions that maternal stress in the first year of life, as measured by a widely used scale, is associated with offspring BMI.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 See Acknowledgements for full listing of collaborators CTW, CLB, MLC, and MM designed, analyzed, and interpreted the data and drafted the article. All authors revised and critically appraised the article for intellectual content and approve the final version. Author Contributions
ISSN:	0031-3998 1530-0447
DOI:	10.1038/s41390-023-02750-8