Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates and Childhood Body Size in an Urban Cohort.

Background: Phthalate exposures are hypothesized to increase obesity; however, prior research has been largely cross-sectional.

Objective: We evaluated associations between prenatal phthalate exposures and body mass index (BMI) at child ages 5 and 7 years.

Methods: Nine metabolites of six phthalates-di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-octyl-, di-iso-butyl-, di-n-butyl-, butylbenzyl-, and diethyl phthalates-were measured in spot urine samples collected from pregnant African-American and Dominican women during their third trimester, and from their children at ages 3 and 5 years.

Does body mass index accurately reflect body fat? A comparison of anthropometric measures in the longitudinal assessment of fat mass.

Objective: To determine which anthropometric measure best correlates with change in fat mass (FM) over time.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective cohort study of 76 obese patients (mean body mass index [BMI] 38 kg/m(2) and mean age 13 years) presenting to an obesity clinic between 2005 and 2010. For each patient, during 2 visits, FM was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis and the following measures obtained: BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, and neck circumference.