title: Gestational weight gain and body mass index in children: results from three german cohort studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies suggested potential priming effects of gestational weight gain (GWG) on offspring's body composition in later life. However, consistency of these effects in normal weight, overweight and obese mothers is less clear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We combined the individual data of three German cohorts and assessed associations of total and excessive GWG (as defined by criteria of the Institute of Medicine) with offspring's mean body mass index (BMI) standard deviation scores (SDS) and overweight at the age of 5-6 years (total: n = 6,254). Quantile regression was used to examine potentially different effects on different parts of the BMI SDS distribution. All models were adjusted for birth weight, maternal age and maternal smoking during pregnancy and stratified by maternal pre-pregnancy weight status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In adjusted models, positive associations of total and excessive GWG with mean BMI SDS and overweight were observed only in children of non- overweight mothers. For example, excessive GWG was associated with a mean increase of 0.08 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.15) units of BMI SDS (0.13 (0.02, 0.24) kg/m(2) of 'real' BMI) in children of normal-weight mothers. The effects of total and excessive GWG on BMI SDS increased for higher- BMI children of normal-weight mothers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased GWG is likely to be associated with overweight in offspring of non-overweight mothers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beyerlein
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nehring
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rzehak
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.forename: Manfred J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Plachta-Danielzik
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wabitsch
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weck
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rothenbacher
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: von Kries
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D015430:Weight Gain