Maternal Body Mass Index, Gestational Weight Gain, and Risk of Cancer in Offspring: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 15; no. 7; p. 1601
• Main Authors: Miao, Junxiang, Chen, Yan, Liu, Xiaoling, Ye, Changxiang, Zhou, Xuan, Yang, Ziqi, Gong, Ziqiang, Chen, Lizhang, Wang, Tingting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25-03-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: BMI; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body size; Body weight; Body weight gain; Brain cancer; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cancer in children; Complications and side effects; Confounding (Statistics); Female; Gestational Weight Gain; Health aspects; Health risks; Humans; Leukemia; Lymphoma; Medical records; Meta-analysis; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Neoplasms - etiology; Neuroblastoma; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Observational studies; Offspring; Overweight; Overweight - complications; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prenatal influences; Retinoblastoma; Review; Risk; Risk factors; Sensitivity analysis; Statistical analysis; Systematic review; Underweight; Weight gain; China; Canada; Sweden; Israel; United Kingdom > UK; Australia; France; meta-analysis; cancer; gestational weight gain; BMI
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu15071601

: Mounting evidence suggests that maternal obesity and gestational weight gain (GWG) may increase the risk of cancer in their offspring; however, results are inconsistent. The purpose of this research is to determine the association between maternal body mass index (BMI) and GWG and the risk of cancer in offspring through a systematic and comprehensive meta-analysis.
: A systematic literature search of several databases was conducted on 1 October 2022 to identify relevant studies. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The overall risk estimates were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis.
: Twenty-two studies with more than 8 million participants were included. An increased risk of total cancer was found in offspring whose mothers had a high GWG (odds ratio [OR]: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.01-1.19;
: 0.040) but not in offspring whose mothers had a low GWG (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 0.96-1.17;
: 0.030), when compared with offspring whose mothers had a suitable GWG. In addition, no statistically significant association was found between maternal underweight (OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 0.97-1.13;
: 0.630), overweight/obesity (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.99-1.16;
: 0.020), and risk of total cancer in offspring.
: Our study proposes evidence that maternal BMI and GWG may be associated with the risk of cancer in offspring, although statistical significance was found only for high GWG. Further well-designed research is required to clarify the potential relevance of maternal BMI and GWG on offspring cancer, especially for specific cancers.