title: Intrauterine exposure to environmental pollutants and body mass index during the first 3 years of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS) and prenatal exposure to hexachlorobenzene, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), dioxin-like compounds, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective birth cohort study, we assessed a random sample of mother-infant pairs (n = 138) living in Flanders, Belgium, with follow-up until the children were 3 years of age. We measured body mass index as standard deviation scores (BMI SDS) of children 1-3 years of age as well as pollutants measured in cord blood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DDE correlated with BMI SDS, with effect modification by maternal smoking and the child's age. At 1 year, children of smoking mothers had higher BMI SDS than did children of nonsmoking mothers. At 3 years, this difference was reduced because of the faster rate of decline in BMI SDS in the former group. This relationship held except for children with high levels of DDE. DDE had a small effect on BMI SDS at 3 years of age in children of nonsmoking mothers (difference in BMI SDS for DDE concentrations between the 90th and 10th percentiles = 0.13). On the other hand, smoking enhanced the relation between DDE and BMI SDS at 3 years (difference in BMI SDS for DDE concentrations between the 90th and 10th percentiles = 0.76). Increasing concentrations of PCBs were associated with higher BMI SDS values at all ages (parameter estimate = 0.003 +/- 0.001; p = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study we demonstrated that intrauterine exposure to DDE and PCBs is associated with BMI during early childhood. Future studies are warranted to confirm our findings and to assess possible mechanisms by which these pollutants could alter energy metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. stijn.verhulst@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Stijn L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nelen
authors.forename: Elly Den
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Hond
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koppen
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beunckens
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vael
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schoeters
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Desager
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants