title: Prenatal vitamin intake during pregnancy and offspring obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In animal studies, exposure to multivitamins may be associated with obesity in the offspring; however, data in humans are sparse. We therefore examined the association between prenatal vitamin intake during pregnancy and offspring obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the association between prenatal vitamin intake and obesity among 29,160 mother-daughter dyads in the Nurses' Health Study II. Mothers of participants provided information on prenatal vitamin use during pregnancy with the nurse daughter. Information on body fatness at ages 5 and 10, body mass index (BMI) at age 18, weight in 1989 and 2009, waist circumference, and height was obtained from the daughter. Polytomous logistic regression was used to predict BMI in early adulthood and adulthood, and body fatness in childhood. Linear regression was used to predict waist circumference in adulthood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In utero exposure to prenatal vitamins was not associated with body fatness, either in childhood or in adulthood. Women whose mothers took prenatal vitamins during pregnancy had a covariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of being obese in adulthood of 0.99 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92-1.05, P-value = 0.68) compared with women whose mothers did not take prenatal vitamins. Women whose mothers took prenatal vitamins during pregnancy had a covariate-adjusted OR of having the largest body shape at age 5 of 1.02 (95% CI 0.90-1.15, P-value = 0.78). In additional analyses, in utero exposure to prenatal vitamins was also unrelated to adult abdominal adiposity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exposure to prenatal vitamins was not associated with body fatness either in childhood or in adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Dougan
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA [2] Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA [3] Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA [2] Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA [3] Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Michels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009679:Nuclear Family; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D051381:Rats; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D055105:Waist Circumference; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins