Cesarean Delivery, Overweight throughout Childhood, and Blood Pressure in Adolescence.
To investigate whether children delivered by cesarean had a higher risk of being overweight from early until late childhood and whether they had a higher blood pressure in adolescence compared with children delivered vaginally.



We used data from a Dutch birth cohort study with prenatal inclusion in 1996 and 1997. Mode of delivery (cesarean or vaginal delivery) was ascertained at 3 months after birth by questionnaire. During clinical examinations, height and weight (at age 4, 8, 12, and 16 years) and blood pressure (at age 12 and 16 years) were measured. We used mixed model analysis to estimate associations of cesarean delivery with overweight and blood pressure z scores in 2641 children who participated in at least 1 of the 4 examinations.



Children born by cesarean delivery (n = 236, 8.9%) had a 1.52 (95% CI 1.18, 1.96) higher odds of being overweight throughout childhood than children delivered vaginally. Children born by cesarean delivery had no higher systolic blood pressure z-score (0.11 SD, 95% CI -0.04, 0.26), nor a different diastolic blood pressure z-score (-0.00 SD, 95% CI -0.10, 0.09) in adolescence than children delivered vaginally.



Compared with children delivered vaginally, children delivered by cesarean had a 52% higher risk of being overweight throughout childhood, but this was not accompanied by a higher blood pressure in adolescence.
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: l.p.m.pluymen@umcutrecht.nl.
Linda P M
LP
Pluymen
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Henriëtte A
HA
Smit
Center for Nutrition, Prevention, and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Alet H
AH
Wijga
Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences,Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Ulrike
U
Gehring
Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Johan C
JC
De Jongste
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Lenie
L
Van Rossem
D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002585:Cesarean Section; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
blood pressure; cardiovascular risk; cesarean; child; mode of delivery; obesity; overweight