Maternal Prepregnancy Overweight and Obesity Are Associated with Reduced Physical Fitness But Do Not Affect Physical Activity in Childhood: The Amsterdam Born Children and Their Development Study

• Published in: Childhood obesity 2019-01, Vol.15 (1), p.31-39
• Main Authors: Mintjens, Stijn, Gemke, Reinoud J B J, van Poppel, Mireille N M, Vrijkotte, Tanja G M, Roseboom, Tessa J, van Deutekom, Arend W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Blood pressure; Body composition; Cardiorespiratory Fitness - physiology; Child; Child Development - physiology; Child, Preschool; Childhood; Children & youth; Epidemiology; Ethnicity; Exercise; Exercise - physiology; Female; Health care; Hospitals; Humans; Medical research; Metabolism; Mothers; Muscle Strength - physiology; Netherlands - epidemiology; Obesity; Overweight; Pediatrics; Physical fitness; Physical Fitness - physiology; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; Public health; Research centers; Sedentary behavior; Studies
• ISSN: 2153-2168; 2153-2176
• DOI: 10.1089/chi.2018.0171

Maternal overweight/obesity during pregnancy increases offspring's risks of obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD). A possible pathway is by reduced physical fitness and physical activity (PA) levels in children of overweight/obese mother. We assessed whether maternal prepregnancy overweight/obesity independently determines cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular strength, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sedentary behavior (SB) in 8- to 9-year-old children. We also assessed whether child's fat mass (FM) mediates these associations. One hundred ninety-four children of Dutch ethnicity aged 8.6 (± 0.4) years were randomly selected from a prospective birth cohort, the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) study. CRF was assessed by the 20-m multistage shuttle run test (20-m MSRT), muscular strength by hand dynamometry, and MVPA and SB by accelerometry. The association of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m with these outcome measures was assessed by multivariable linear regressions. Mean (± standard deviation) attained 20-m MSRT stage was 5.3 (± 1.7). Compared with children from normal weight women, children of women with prepregnancy overweight/obesity attained a 0.80 (95% confidence interval: 0.15-1.50) lower stage, adjusted for child's sex and MVPA. This association was not mediated by birthweight or child's FM at age 5 years. Maternal prepregnancy overweight/obesity was not associated with child's muscular strength, MVPA, or SB. Maternal prepregnancy overweight/obesity was associated with reduced childhood CRF, but not with muscular strength, PA, or SB. Birthweight and FM at age 5 years did not mediate this association. Reduced CRF may partly explain the increased CVD risk in children of overweight/obese women.