Associations of maternal obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy with subcutaneous fat mass in infancy

BACKGROUND: Not much is known about the associations of maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain with body fat in infancy. OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain with infant subcutaneous fat. METHODS: In a population-based prospective cohort study among 845 mothers and their infants, we obtained maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and measured maternal weight during pregnancy. At 1.5, 6 and 24 months, we estimated infant total subcutaneous fat (sum of biceps, triceps, suprailiacal and subscapular skinfold thicknesses) and central-to-total subcutaneous fat ratio (sum of suprailiacal and subscapular skinfold thicknesses/total subcutaneous fat). RESULTS: Maternal body mass index was positively associated with higher infant body mass index from 6 months onwards. Maternal body mass index was not associated with infant subcutaneous fat measures at 1.5 or 6 months. A 1-standard deviation scores (SDS) higher maternal body mass index was associated with a 0.09 (95% Confidence Interval 0.01, 0.17) SDS higher infant total subcutaneous fat at 24 months, but not with central-to-total subcutaneous fat ratio. No associations were present for maternal total or period-specific gestational weight gain with infant fat. CONCLUSION: Maternal body mass index was positively associated with infant body mass index and total subcutaneous fat in late infancy. Maternal total and period-specific gestational weight gain were not associated with infant body fat mass measures.