title: Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Parents of Food-Allergic Children.
abstract: Previous studies suggest that chronic stress may induce immune system malfunction and a broad range of adverse health outcomes; however, the underlying pathways for this relationship are unclear. Our study aimed to elucidate this question by examining the relationship between parental cardiovascular risk factors including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and maternal psychological stress score (MPSS) relative to the severity of the child's food allergy (FA) and number of affected children. SBP, DBP, BMI, and WHR were measured and calculated at the time of recruitment by trained nurses. MPSS was obtained based on self-report questionnaires covering lifestyle adjustments, perceived chronic stress, and quality of life. General linear models examined whether caregiver chronic stress was associated with FA. For mothers with children under age 5 years, SBP, DBP and number of affected children had strong and graded relationships with severity of the child's FA. MPSS was also significantly and positively associated with child FA severity (P < 0.001). However, no relationships were found between FA severity, BMI, or WHR for either parent. This was also the case for paternal SBP, DBP, and number of affected children of any age. There is a strong and graded link between cardiovascular risk and perceived stress in mothers of food-allergic children under age 5. Findings may have important implications for family-centered care of FA, may generalize to caregivers of children with chronic conditions, and extend the literature on allostatic load.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Center on the Early Life Origins of Disease, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health (SOW, GM, DC, XH, XW), Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Baltimore, MD (SOW), Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (SOW), Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Environmental Science & Public Health, Wenzhou Medical University (GM), Center on Clinical and Epidemiological Eye Research, the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China (GM), and Division of Allergy and Immunology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL (JAP).
authors.forename: Sheila Ohlsson
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Guangyun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Deanna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: Xiumei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jacqueline A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pongracic
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio