Obesity is associated with shorter telomeres in 8 year-old children.

Telomere length is considered a biomarker of biological aging. Shorter telomeres and obesity have both been associated with age-related diseases. To evaluate the association between various indices of obesity with leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in childhood, data from 1,396 mother-child pairs of the multi-centre European birth cohort study HELIX were used.

Early-Life Environmental Exposures and Blood Pressure in Children.

Background: Growing evidence exists about the fetal and environmental origins of hypertension, but mainly limited to single-exposure studies. The exposome has been proposed as a more holistic approach by studying many exposures simultaneously.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the association between a wide range of prenatal and postnatal exposures and blood pressure (BP) in children.

Personal assessment of the external exposome during pregnancy and childhood in Europe.

The human exposome affects child development and health later in life, but its personal external levels, variability, and correlations are largely unknown. We characterized the personal external exposome of pregnant women and children in eight European cities. Panel studies included 167 pregnant women and 183 children (aged 6-11 years).

Early-life exposome and lung function in children in Europe: an analysis of data from the longitudinal, population-based HELIX cohort.

Background: Several single-exposure studies have documented possible effects of environmental factors on lung function, but none has relied on an exposome approach. We aimed to evaluate the association between a broad range of prenatal and postnatal lifestyle and environmental exposures and lung function in children.

Methods: In this analysis, we used data from 1033 mother-child pairs from the European Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) cohort (consisting of six existing longitudinal birth cohorts in France, Greece, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, and the UK of children born between 2003 and 2009) for whom a valid spirometry test was recorded for the child.

The early-life exposome: Description and patterns in six European countries.

Characterization of the "exposome", the set of all environmental factors that one is exposed to from conception onwards, has been advocated to better understand the role of environmental factors on chronic diseases. Here, we aimed to describe the early-life exposome. Specifically, we focused on the correlations between multiple environmental exposures, their patterns and their variability across European regions and across time (pregnancy and childhood periods).

Determinants of the urinary and serum metabolome in children from six European populations.

Background: Environment and diet in early life can affect development and health throughout the life course. Metabolic phenotyping of urine and serum represents a complementary systems-wide approach to elucidate environment-health interactions. However, large-scale metabolome studies in children combining analyses of these biological fluids are lacking.

In-utero and childhood chemical exposome in six European mother-child cohorts.

Background: Harmonized data describing simultaneous exposure to a large number of environmental contaminants in-utero and during childhood is currently very limited.

Objectives: To characterize concentrations of a large number of environmental contaminants in pregnant women from Europe and their children, based on chemical analysis of biological samples from mother-child pairs.

Methods: We relied on the Early-Life Exposome project, HELIX, a collaborative project across six established population-based birth cohort studies in Europe.

Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) study: a European population-based exposome cohort.

Purpose: Essential to exposome research is the collection of data on many environmental exposures from different domains in the same subjects. The aim of the Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) study was to measure and describe multiple environmental exposures during early life (pregnancy and childhood) in a prospective cohort and associate these exposures with molecular omics signatures and child health outcomes. Here, we describe recruitment, measurements available and baseline data of the HELIX study populations.

Impact of the Social and Natural Environment on Preschool-Age Children Weight.

The complex impact of environmental and social factors on preschool children being overweight/obese is unclear. We examined the associations between the levels of green space exposure and the risk of being overweight/obese for 4-6 year-old children and assessed the impact of maternal education on these associations. This cross-sectional study included 1489 mother-child pairs living in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2012-2013.

Impact of Psychosocial Environment on Young Children's Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties.

The impact of maternal psychosocial stress on young children's mental difficulties is unclear. This study investigated the joint effects of the socioeconomic status and parent-child relationships on emotional and behavioral difficulties in preschool children. The case-control study included 1416 mothers and their 4-6 year-old children pairs, living in Kaunas city, Lithuania.

Effect of diet and maternal education on allergies among preschool children: A case-control study.

Introduction: The prevalence of asthma and allergy has increased among children. This increase in prevalence might be related to dietary patterns.

Aims: The present epidemiological study investigated the relationship between the consumption of fruit, vegetables, nuts, meat and fish, and the prevalence of wheeze, asthma, and eczema among preschool children.

Psychosocial stress and obesity among children residing in Kaunas City.

Introduction: An unfavorable psychosocial environment has been associated with an increased prevalence of obesity among children. However, the available evidence on the association of low socioeconomic status and parent-child relationships with childhood obesity is scarce. The aim of our study was to conduct a simultaneous evaluation of the risks associated with pathological mother-child relationships, education level, and overweight/obesity among 4-6 year-old children.