Search

Child obesity is a major problem in the United States. Identifying early-life risk factors is necessary for prevention. Maternal diet during pregnancy is a primary source of fetal energy and might influence risk of child obesity.We prospectively investigated the influence of maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy on child growth in the first 3 y of life in 389 mother-child pairs from the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition study.Dietary patterns were derived with the use of latent class analysis (LCA) based on maternal diet, collected with the use of a food-frequency questionnaire at 26-29 wk gestation. Associations between maternal dietary patterns and child body mass index (BMI)-for-age z score and overweight or obesity were assessed with the use of linear regression and log-binomial regression, respectively. We used linear mixed models to estimate childhood growth patterns in relation to maternal dietary patterns.Three patterns were identified from LCA: 1) fruits, vegetables, refined grains, red and processed meats, pizza, french fries, sweets, salty snacks, and soft drinks (latent class 1); 2) fruits, vegetables, baked chicken, whole-wheat bread, low-fat dairy, and water (latent class 2); and 3) white bread, red and processed meats, fried chicken, french fries, and vitamin C-rich drinks (latent class 3). In crude analyses, the latent class 3 diet was associated with a higher BMI-for-age z score at 1 and 3 y of age and a higher risk of overweight or obesity at 3 y of age than was the latent class 2 diet. These associations were not detectable after adjustment for confounding factors. We observed an inverse association between the latent class 3 diet and BMI-for-age z score at birth after adjustment for confounding factors that was not evident in the crude analysis (latent class 3 compared with latent class 2-β: -0.41; 95% CI: -0.79, -0.03).In this prospective study, a less-healthy maternal dietary pattern was associated with early childhood weight patterns.

Rates of childhood obesity have increased over the last few decades. Overweight and obesity during childhood is associated with obesity in adolescence and adulthood, as well as increased risk of immediate and long-term health consequences. Because the risk of child obesity may be programmed before birth, understanding the role of the fetal environment is imperative. Maternal diet quality during pregnancy is a modifiable factor that may influence the development of child obesity; however, few studies have examined this association. We used data from the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition study, a prospective, longitudinal pregnancy cohort, to examine the role of maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy on maternal cardiometabolic markers and child growth from birth to 36 months. Dietary patterns were derived using the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and latent class analysis (LCA). Three dietary patterns emerged from LCA characterized by high intakes of: 1) hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, French fries, fried chicken, white bread, and soft drinks; 2) some vegetables, fruit juice, refined grains, mixed dishes, processed meat, and empty calorie foods; and 3) fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, breakfast bars, and water. DASH scores were categorized into tertiles. Using multivariable linear regression, we found that healthier diet quality (highest DASH tertile and Latent Class 3) was associated with lower insulin, insulin resistance, and triglyceride levels compared to poorer diet quality (lowest DASH tertile and Latent Class 1). At 36 months, there was suggestion of a positive association between higher maternal DASH score and BMI z-score. Using linear mixed models, we found that, on average, children of mothers with a DASH diet score

Importance: Epigenetic clocks represent molecular evidence of disease risk and aging processes and have been used to identify how social and lifestyle characteristics are associated with accelerated biological aging. However, most of this research is based on older adult samples who already have measurable chronic disease., Objective: To investigate whether and how sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics are related to biological aging in a younger adult sample across a wide array of epigenetic clock measures., Design: Nationally representative prospective cohort study., Setting: United States (U.S.)., Participants: Data come from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a national cohort of adolescents in grades 7-12 in U.S. in 1994 followed for 25 years over five interview waves. Our analytic sample includes participants followed-up through Wave V in 2016-18 who provided blood samples for DNA methylation (DNAm) testing (n=4237) at Wave V., Exposure: Sociodemographic (sex, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, socioeconomic status, geographic location) and lifestyle (obesity status, exercise, tobacco, and alcohol use) characteristics., Main Outcome: Biological aging assessed from blood DNAm using 16 epigenetic clocks when the cohort was aged 33-44 in Wave V., Results: While there is considerable variation in the mean and distribution of epigenetic clock estimates and in the correlations among the clocks, we found sociodemographic and lifestyle factors are more often associated with biological aging in clocks trained to predict current or dynamic phenotypes (e.g., PhenoAge, GrimAge and DunedinPACE) as opposed to clocks trained to predict chronological age alone (e.g., Horvath). Consistent and strong associations of faster biological aging were found for those with lower levels of education and income, and those with severe obesity, no weekly exercise, and tobacco use., Conclusions and Relevance: Our study found important social and lifestyle factors associated with biological aging in a nationally representative cohort of younger-aged adults. These findings indicate that molecular processes underlying disease risk can be identified in adults entering midlife before disease is manifest and represent useful targets for interventions to reduce social inequalities in heathy aging and longevity., Key Points: Question: Are epigenetic clocks, measures of biological aging developed mainly on older-adult samples, meaningful for younger adults and associated with sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics in expected patterns found in prior aging research? Findings: Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were associated with biological aging in clocks trained to predict morbidity and mortality showing accelerated aging among those with lower levels of education and income, and those with severe obesity, no weekly exercise, and tobacco use. Meaning: Age-related molecular processes can be identified in younger-aged adults before disease manifests and represent potential interventions to reduce social inequalities in heathy aging and longevity.