Maternal obesity and attention-related symptoms in the preterm offspring

BACKGROUND: Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity, in term-born children, is associated with an increased risk of attention problems, however this relationship has not been explored among children born extremely preterm.AIM: To estimate the risk of attention problems at age 10years in children born very preterm to overweight (i.e., body mass index (BMI) 25-29kg/m2) and obese (i.e., BMI≥30kg/m2) women relative to the risk among children born to women who were neither overweight nor obese (i.e. BMISTUDY DESIGN: Multi-center prospective cohort study.METHODS: A total of 764 children born before the 28th week of gestation and whose mother's pre-pregnancy height and pre-pregnancy weight were obtained at birth had an IQ≥70 at age 10years when parents and teachers completed Child Symptom Inventory-4 questionnaires that included items about the presence of ADHD.RESULTS: Compared to children whose mother's pre-pregnancy weight was in the normal range (BMICONCLUSION: Maternal overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of parent-identified ADHD characteristics at 10years of age in children born extremely preterm.