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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood glucose level in pregnancy on the anthropometry of newborns. The sample consisted of 171 healthy pregnant women and their newborns from the Croatian Islands' Birth Cohort Study. Peripheral blood of pregnant women was taken in the second trimester and fasting glucose values >5.1 mmol/l were considered elevated. Anthropometric variables (body weight, height and waist circumference) were measured according to the International Biological Program. Pre- pregnancy BMI and fasting glucose levels during pregnancy were significantly positively correlated (p

The main goal of this study was to test the association of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and fasting glucose level in pregnancy on birth size of newborns. The sample consisted of 177 healthy pregnant woman and their newborns from the islands (Hvar and Brač) and the mainland (Split- Dalmatian County) who are participants in the Croatian Islands Birth cohort Study (CRIBS). Anthropometric variables (body weight, height and waist circumference) were measured according to the International Biological Program. Peripheral blood of pregnant women was taken between 22nd and 26th week of gestation, and fasting glucose values >5.1 mmol/L were considered elevated. Statistical analyses were done by SPSS10.0 for Windows. There was a significant positive correlation between pre-pregnancy BMI and fasting glucose levels during pregnancy as well as between pre- pregnancy BMI and birth weight, length, and head circumference of the newborns. Hyperglycemic women gave birth to significantly heavier newborn girls then normoglycemic women (p

Health benefits of physical activity during pregnancy include reduced risk of excessive gestational weight gain and conditions such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and preterm birth. The ongoing CRoatian Islands Birth Cohort Study (CRIBS) is the first cohort study in the South-Eastern Europe with an aim to assess the prevalence of risk factors (biological, environmental and behavioral) for the Metabolic Syndrome in populations from Dalmatian islands of Hvar and Brač and coastal Split city with its surroundings. At the time of writing, Over 350 pregnant women and 220 of their newborns have been involved in the study. Here we present the preliminary results of testing the association of mothers` self- estimated physical activity during pregnancy with newborns` anthropometric characteristics (birth weight, length and head circumference) using the data from questionnaires and obstetric records of 116 mother – newborn pairs. The difference in weight-at-birth was detected between newborn girls whose mothers were from Low vs. Intensive physical activity categories, as well as from Moderate vs. Intensive physical activity categories. In addition to that, the significant difference in weight-at-birth and height/length-at-birth was detected between newborn boys whose mothers were from Moderate vs. Intensive physical activity categories (p

The intrauterine environment affects fetal growth and development. Healthy women with no history of chronic diseases, who concieved naturally and had singleton pregnancies have been participating in the CRoatian Islands` Birth Cohort Study (CRIBS), an ongoing project in the Eastern Adriatic, Croatia, aiming to assess the prevalence of risk factors for the Metabolic Syndrom. Fasting blood lipids (tot- Chol, Trig, HDL-Chol and LDL-Chol), glucose and homocysteine levels were determined in 94 pregnant women (taken between 22th and 26th week of gestation). We investigated their association with possible predisposing factors (age, gestational age, level of education, obesity and smoking status), newborns` anthropometric measures (weight, lenght and head circumference) and with adverse pregnancy outcomes (pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, small/large for gestational age). Among the blood lipids, the largest divergence was found in triglyceride levels (mean 4.2±1.1, range 0.9-11), with elevated values (>1.7 mmol/L) present in >75% of the examinees. Smokers, in comparison to non-smokers, had significantly lower HDL-Chol levels and women older than 30 years had significantly higher tot-Chol than younger ones. Women with higher mean glucose levels (but within the normal range) gave birth to children with significantly higher weight- at-birth z-standardized according to WHO, and women with low homocysteine levels (

The ongoing CRoatian Islands Birth Cohort Study (CRIBS) is a national project and the first birth cohort study in the South-Eastern Europe designed to follow a representative sample of about 500 pregnant women and their children up to two years of age. The aim of the project is to assess the prevalence of risk factors (biological, environmental and behavioral) for the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in populations from Croatian Dalmatian islands (Hvar and Brač) and mainland population (city of Split with surroundings), the Mediterranean area with very high prevalence of the MetS. So far, over 300 pregnant women and 150 of their newborns have been involved in the study. Here we present the preliminary results of testing the association of maternal diet in pregnancy with newborns` anthropometric parameters (birth weight, length and head circumference) using the data from questionnaires and obstetric records. Initially we included 131 mother – newborn pairs from the population of Split (N=71) and islands of Brač and Hvar (N=60) in this report but, since nine newborns were preterm, further analyses were performed for the remaining 122 children whose mothers filled out two questionnaires. An excessive food frequency questionnaire was filled out during the second trimester (around 32nd week of gestation) and the data on the socioeconomic status (SES) (educational level, marital status and income), lifestyle characteristics (smoking and self-estimated physical activity) and reproductive health background were collected in a different questionnaire during the first trimester of pregnancy. Information on birth weight, length, head circumference and infant sex were taken from obstetric records. Statistical analysis included the factor analysis of 20 food items with a factor loading coefficient >0.20 from validated Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), and the associations between the food items and the estimated factor scores were measured using Pearson`s correlations. We also conducted a multivariate linear regression analysis for each factor including mothers` characteristics (age, SES status – income and level of education, lifestyle characteristics - years of smoking) to assess independent associations. The estimated factor scores, age, level of physical activity, smoking and socioeconomic status were further used as independent variables in the logistic regression with the weight-at-birth, height-at-birth and head circumference-at- birth, for the lowest and the highest 15% of newborns as dependent variables. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 11.0. P values ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant for all the analyses. Pregnant women were between the ages of 19.6 and 41.7 (mean age 30.54±4.37 years) and they gave birth to 69 girls and 53 boys. In comparison to newborn girls, newborn boys from the CRIBS study had significantly higher length-at-birth (51.28±1.75 cm vs. 50.48±1.77 cm, p