Added sugars mediate the relation between pre-pregnancy BMI and infant rapid weight gain: a preliminary study

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2021-12, Vol.45 (12), p.2570-2576
• Main Authors: Burgess, Brenda, Morris, Katherine S., Faith, Myles S., Paluch, Rocco A., Kong, Kai Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/308/2778; 692/499; 692/699/1702/393; Adult; Age; Babies; Beverages; Bivariate analysis; Body Mass Index; Body size; Body weight; Body weight gain; Breast feeding; Breastfeeding & lactation; Complications and side effects; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Epidemiology; Female; Food and nutrition; Genetic crosses; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Infant; Infants; Internal Medicine; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Mothers; Obesity; Offspring; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity - epidemiology; Pediatric Obesity - etiology; Pediatric research; Physiological aspects; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Prenatal influences; Psychological aspects; Public Health; Sugar; Sugars - metabolism; Sugars - pharmacology; Weight gain; Weight Gain - physiology
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/s41366-021-00936-w

Background Parental obesity is linked to offspring obesity, though little research has explored factors that might influence this relationship during the complementary feeding period. This study investigated whether infant intakes of added sugars mediate the relationship between a mother’s pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and infant rapid weight gain (defined as upward weight-for-age percentile crossing). Methods This study was of a cross-sectional design. Anthropometrics for 141 mother-infant dyads (mean age [standard deviation]: 32.6 [4.4] year for mothers, 11.9 [1.9] months for infants) were obtained. Data from three 24-h recalls pertaining to the infants’ diets were collected and analyzed. Pearson product-moment correlations and multivariable regressions assessed bivariate relationships between pre-pregnancy BMI, infant added sugar intakes and upward weight-for-age percentile crossing. Mediation models evaluated the effects of added sugars and breastfeeding duration. Results Pre-pregnancy BMI correlated positively with infants’ added sugar intakes ( r   =  0.230 , p   =  0.006). Added sugar intakes mediated the impact of pre-pregnancy BMI on upward weight-for-age percentile crossing (indirect effect = 0.007, 95% CI = 0.0001, 0.0197, indirect/total effect ratio = 0.280). Breastfeeding duration also moderated the relationship, with infants who were breastfed for a shorter duration experiencing a greater mediating effect (indirect effect = 0.010, 95% CI = 0.0014, 0.0277, indirect/direct effect ratio = 0.7368). Conclusions Mothers who were overweight or obese prior to pregnancy were significantly more likely to give their infants foods and beverages with added sugars, and this practice was found to mediate the relationship between maternal and infant obesity. Breastfeeding duration moderated the mediating effect of added sugars between pre-pregnancy BMI and infant rapid weight gain.