title: Maternal Body Mass Index during Pregnancy and Offspring Neurocognitive Development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This hypothesis generating study explores second trimester maternal body mass index (BMI) during pregnancy and offspring neurocognitive development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mothers and offspring served as controls in two earlier studies: 101 children at age two years and 118 children at age eight years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Frequency of maternal BMI ≥30 kg/m2increased from 10% in 1987-1990 to 30% in 2004-2006 (P< 0.001); the socioeconomic gradient became more pronounced. At age two, one or more BSID-III (Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd Edition) scores <85 were more frequent with higher maternal BMI (P= 0.029); regression analysis suggested an inverse relationship between language scores and BMI (P= 0.054). Among eight-year-olds, one or more WISC-III (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd edition) scores <85 increased with maternal BMI (P= 0.017); regression analysis showed an inverse relationship between performance subscale IQ score and BMI (P= 0.023).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Second trimester maternal obesity may be an independent risk factor for some aspects of children's neurocognitive development. Further study is indicated.
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Blood Research, Scarborough, ME.
authors.forename: Wendy Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Women & Infants Hospital/Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Glenn E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Palomaki
authors.affiliation: Women & Infants Hospital/Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Neveux
authors.affiliation: Women & Infants Hospital/Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Haddow
keywords: BMI; offspring neurocognitive development; pregnancy