title: Early-life exposures to persistent organic pollutants in relation to overweight in preschool children.
abstract: Current knowledge on obesogenic effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is equivocal. We therefore evaluated the associations between early-life POP exposures and body mass index (BMI) in 444 Faroese children born in 2007-2009. POPs were measured in maternal 2-week postpartum serum and child age-5 serum. Linear regression and generalised linear models assessed the associations with continuous and dichotomous BMI z-scores, respectively, at ages 18 months and/or 5 years. Maternal serum concentrations of HCB, PFOS and PFOA were associated with increased BMI z-scores and/or overweight risk (i.e. BMI z-score≥85th WHO percentile). No clear association was found for maternal serum-PCBs, p,p'-DDE, PFHxS, PFNA and PFDA. In cross-sectional analyses, we observed a pattern of inverse associations between child serum-POPs and BMI z-scores at age 5, perhaps due to reverse causation that requires attention in future prospective analyses. Findings in this recent cohort support a role of maternal exposure to endocrine disruptors in the childhood obesity epidemic.
authors: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Environmental Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors: Martina
authors: M
authors: Karlsen
authors: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Environmental Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. Electronic address: pgrand@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Grandjean
authors: Department of Environmental Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, The Faroese Hospital System, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
authors: Pal
authors: P
authors: Weihe
authors: Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, The Faroese Hospital System, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
authors: Ulrike
authors: U
authors: Steuerwald
authors: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
authors: Youssef
authors: Y
authors: Oulhote
authors: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
authors: Damaskini
authors: D
authors: Valvi
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D005466:Fluorocarbons
keywords: Childhood obesity; DOHaD; Developmental toxicity; Endocrine disruptors; Perfluoroalkyl substances; Persistent organic pollutants