Decelerated early growth in infants of overweight and obese mothers.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between maternal prepregnancy body mass index and early infant growth and body composition.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study performed at a university hospital/surrounding community. Ninety-seven nondiabetic mothers with singleton, term, healthy infants completed study visits at 2 weeks and 3 months of age. Before pregnancy, 59 mothers were normal weight, 18 were overweight, and 20 were obese. Infant anthropometrics and body composition via air-displacement plethysmography were measured. Infant feeding information and maternal prepregnancy weight were self-reported. Additional data were obtained via self-report and the medical record. Main outcome measures were change in weight, length, fat-free mass, and fat mass from 2 weeks to 3 months of age. Analysis was done via multivariate linear regression.

Results: At 2 weeks, anthropometrics and body composition did not differ across maternal body mass index groups. At 3 months, infants of overweight or obese mothers had gained less weight (P = .02), grew less in length (P = .01), and gained less fat mass (P = .01). Adjustment for breastfeeding status and regression to the mean via conditional change variables did not alter the results. The results were not altered after adjusting for maternal glucose values from a 50-g glucose challenge and for maternal smoking in a subset including 80% of the women.

Conclusions: Maternal overweight/obesity is associated with early deceleration in linear growth and adipose tissue accrual; replication of these findings is needed.