Associations of Exposure to Physical Activity and Smoking During Pregnancy and Offspring Body Composition PDF Download

Author: Curtis Stuart Harrod
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Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Our objective was to examine the associations of pregnancy physical activity and prenatal smoking with offspring mass [i.e. body mass, fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM)]. We analyzed mother-offspring pairs participating in the longitudinal Healthy Start study who delivered before November 1st, 2013. The Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess total energy expenditure and meeting American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines for physical activity during early-, mid- and late-pregnancy. Data on the quantity and duration of prenatal smoking during early-, mid- and late-pregnancy were collected through self-report. We found a significant inverse linear trend between total energy expenditure during late-pregnancy and neonatal FM (Ptrend = 0.04). Total energy expenditure during early- and mid-pregnancy was not significantly associated with neonatal mass, nor was meeting ACOG guidelines during pregnancy. We also observed dose-dependent and time-specific relationships of prenatal smoking significantly reducing neonatal body mass, FM, FFM and the ratio, FM to FFM. Exposure to prenatal smoking before late-pregnancy was not associated with reductions in neonatal mass compared to unexposed offspring. Despite systematic growth restriction observed at birth, at 5 months, exposed and unexposed offspring had comparable FM (P = 0.61) and FFM (P = 0.41), and following further adjustment for birth weight, exposed offspring had significantly greater FFM (P = 0.04). The change in FFM from birth to postnatal follow-up was also significantly greater in exposed relative to unexposed offspring, even after adjustment for FFM at birth (P = 0.04). In a large cohort, we observed that increasing levels of late-pregnancy total energy expenditure were significantly associated with reduced neonatal adiposity, suggesting that behavioral intervention during pregnancy may help reduce the risk of obesity in offspring. Additionally, exposure to prenatal smoking was associated with systematic growth restriction and that late-pregnancy smoking appears to be the primary period for growth restriction. During early-life, offspring exposed to prenatal smoking demonstrated significant compensatory growth, independent of characteristics, including birth weight. This is suggestive of a programmed mechanism in the offspring as a result of exposure to prenatal smoking, and may contribute to an increased risk of obesity later in life.