title: Preconception health trajectories and birth weight in a national prospective cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to assess the relationship between birth weight and prospectively measured trajectories of preconception health across adolescence and young adulthood in a diverse national cohort of young adult women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data came from Waves I (1994-1995), III (2001-2002), and IV (2007-2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Eligibility was restricted to all the singleton live births (n = 3,436) to female participants occurring between the Wave III (ages 18-26 years) and Wave IV (ages 24-32 years) interviews. Preconception cigarette smoking, overweight/obesity, adequate physical activity, heavy alcohol consumption, and fair/poor self-rated health were measured in adolescence (Wave I) and early adulthood (Wave III) and combined into four-category variables to capture the timing and sequencing of exposure. The outcome measure, birth weight, was classified as low (<2,500 g), normal (2,500-4,000 g), and macrosomic (>4,000 g).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multinomial logistic regression results indicated that adult-onset overweight significantly increased the odds of having a macrosomic birth (odds ratio = 1.56; 95% confidence interval = 1.02-2.38).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides new evidence about the influence of maternal body mass index trajectories on offspring birth weight. Adult-onset overweight/obesity during the transition to adulthood was common in the sample and increased the odds of subsequently delivering a macrosomic infant by 56%. This finding suggests that healthy weight promotion before this transition would confer intergenerational benefits, and supports recommendations for preconception care to address overweight/obesity.
authors.affiliation: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516-2524, USA. strutz@email.unc.edu
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Strutz
authors.forename: Liana J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Jon M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hussey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005320:Fetal Macrosomia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D016742:Preconception Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult