title: Disaster-related prenatal maternal stress explains increasing amounts of variance in body composition through childhood and adolescence: Project Ice Storm.
abstract: The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity worldwide has become a public health issue. While many factors are involved in the development of obesity, stress during pregnancy has been linked to adiposity. However, research involving stressors that are independent of pregnant women's socioeconomic and psychological characteristics is rare. The present study made use of a natural disaster (1998 Quebec ice storm) to determine which aspect of the women's disaster experience (objective hardship, subjective stress, and/or cognitive appraisal) were associated with body mass index levels and/or waist to height ratio across childhood and adolescence.
  
  
  
  Measure of objective hardship, subjective stress, and cognitive appraisal were obtained following the 1998 Quebec ice storm. We measured height, weight, and waist circumference in children at ages 5½, 8½, 11½, 13½, and 15½.
  
  
  
  Our results show that higher prenatal maternal stress was associated with higher body mass index levels and central adiposity in children of ages 5½, 8½, 13½, and 15½. The effects of prenatal maternal stress on anthropometric measurements tend to increase as the children grew older.
  
  
  
  The findings of this study highlight the long-lasting effect of prenatal stress on body composition, and are compatible with the current theory of fetal programming. Hopefully, our increased knowledge of the effects of prenatal stress on the fetus will lead to improved awareness and the creation of early intervention programs, ultimately improving women's and children's health in the future.
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Program, Douglas Institute Research Center, Verdun, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: guanting.liu@mail.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Guan Ting
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Activity Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: kelseydancause@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kelsey N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Dancause
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Program, Douglas Institute Research Center, Verdun, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: Guillaume.Elgbeili@douglas.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elgbeili
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Program, Douglas Institute Research Center, Verdun, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: david.laplante@douglas.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Laplante
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Program, Douglas Institute Research Center, Verdun, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: suzanne.king@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007053:Ice / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D011792:Quebec; D012737:Sex Factors; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D007053:Ice
keywords: Body mass index; Childhood and adolescence; Longitudinal design; Prenatal maternal stress; Waist to height ratio