title: Childhood maltreatment and BMI trajectories to mid-adult life: follow-up to age 50 y in a British birth cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Childhood maltreatment including abuse and neglect has been associated with adult obesity, but evidence on life-course development of obesity or BMI gain is unclear. We aim to establish whether childhood maltreatments are related to obesity or BMI at different life-stages 7 y-50 y and to identify possible explanations for associations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Childhood physical, psychological and sexual abuse, neglect and BMI at seven ages were recorded in the 1958 birth cohort (n~15,000). Associations of child maltreatments with BMI at separate ages were tested using linear regression or logistic regression for obesity, and with rate of child-to-adult BMI gain using multilevel models. We adjusted for potential covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Abuse was reported in ~12% of the population. Abuse was not associated with elevated childhood BMI, but adult associations were observed: i.e. the abused had faster child-adult BMI gain than the non-abused; associations were independent of adult covariates. For physical abuse in both genders there was a positive linear association of ~0.006/y zBMI gain with age after adjustment for all covariates. Similarly, there was a linear association of physical abuse with obesity risk: e.g. among females from a low OR(adjusted) of 0.34 (0.16,0.71) at 7 y to 1.67 (1.25,2.24) at 50 y. In females faster zBMI gains with age of ~0.0034/y were observed for sexual abuse and increases in obesity risk were faster: from a low OR(adjusted) of 0.23 (0.06,0.84) at 7 y to 1.34 (0.86,2.10) at 50 y. Psychological abuse and neglect associations were less consistent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Childhood maltreatment associations with BMI or obesity varied across life: physical and, in females, sexual abuse were associated with faster lifetime BMI gains, which may have detrimental long-term health consequences.
authors: Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Power
authors: Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Snehal M
authors: SM
authors: Pinto Pereira
authors: Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Leah
authors: L
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult