Objective

Fixed genomic variation explains only a small proportion of the risk of adiposity. In animal models, maternal diet alters offspring body composition, accompanied by epigenetic changes in metabolic control genes. Little is known about whether such processes operate in humans.

Research Design and Methods

Using Sequenom MassARRAY we measured the methylation status of 68 CpGs 5′ from five candidate genes in umbilical cord tissue DNA from healthy neonates. Methylation varied greatly at particular CpGs: for 31 CpGs with median methylation ≥5% and a 5-95% range ≥10% we related methylation status to maternal pregnancy diet and to child’s adiposity at age 9 years. Replication was sought in a second independent cohort.

Results

In cohort 1, RXRA chr9:136355885+ and eNOS chr7:150315553+ methylation had independent associations with sex-adjusted childhood fat mass (exponentiated regression coefficient (β) 17% per standard deviation change in methylation (95% confidence interval (CI) 4 to 31%), P=0.009, n=64 and β=20% (9 to 32%), P<0.001, n=66, respectively) and %fat mass (β=10% (1 to 19%), P=0.023, n=64 and β=12% (4 to 20%), P=0.002, n=66, respectively). Regression analyses including sex and neonatal epigenetic marks explained >25% of the variance in childhood adiposity. Higher methylation of RXRA chr9:136355885+, but not of eNOS chr7:150315553+, was associated with lower maternal carbohydrate intake in early pregnancy, previously linked with higher neonatal adiposity in this population. In cohort 2, cord eNOS chr7:150315553+ methylation showed no association with adiposity, but RXRA chr9:136355885+ methylation showed similar associations with fat mass and %fat mass (β=6% (2 to 10%) and β=4% (1 to 7%), respectively, both P=0.002, n=239).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest a substantial component of metabolic disease risk has a prenatal developmental basis. Perinatal epigenetic analysis may have utility in identifying individual vulnerability to later obesity and metabolic disease.

Background:

Trials in developing countries suggest that improving young children's diet may benefit cognitive development. Whether dietary composition influences young children's cognition in developed countries is unclear. Although many studies have examined the relation between type of milk received in infancy and subsequent cognition, there has been no investigation of the possible effect of variations in the weaning diet.

Methods:

We studied 241 children aged 4 years, whose diet had been assessed at age 6 and 12 months. We measured IQ with the Wechsler Pre-School and Primary Scale of Intelligence, visual attention, visuomotor precision, sentence repetition and verbal fluency with the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY), and visual form-constancy with the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills.

Results:

In sex-adjusted analyses, children whose diet in infancy was characterised by high consumption of fruit, vegetables and home-prepared foods (‘infant guidelines’ dietary pattern) had higher full-scale and verbal IQ and better memory performance at age 4 years. Further adjustment for maternal education, intelligence, social class, quality of the home environment and other potential confounding factors, attenuated these associations but the relations between higher ‘infant guidelines’ diet score and full-scale and verbal IQ remained significant. For a standard deviation increase in ‘infant guidelines’ diet score at 6 or 12 months full scale IQ rose by 0.18 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.31) of a standard deviation. For a standard deviation increase in ‘infant guidelines’ diet score at 6 months verbal IQ rose by 0.14 (0.01 to 0.27) of a standard deviation. There were no associations between dietary patterns in infancy and 4-year performance on the other tests.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that dietary patterns in early life may have some effect on cognitive development. It is also possible that they reflect the influence of unmeasured confounding factors.

Objective:

To investigate whether exposure to high maternal concentrations of 25(OH)-vitamin D in pregnancy poses any risk to the child.

Design:

Prospective study.

Setting:

Princess Anne Maternity Hospital, Southampton, UK.

Subjects:

596 pregnant women were recruited. 466 (78%) children were examined at birth, 440 (74%) at age 9 months and 178 (30%) at age 9 years.

Methods:

Maternal (OH)-vitamin D concentrations were measured in late pregnancy. Anthropometry of the child was recorded at birth, 9 months and 9 years. At 9 months, atopic eczema was assessed. At 9 years, children had an echocardiogram and a DXA scan, blood pressure, arterial compliance and carotid intima-media thickness were measured and intelligence and psychological function assessed.

Results:

There were no associations between maternal 25(OH)-vitamin D concentrations and the child's body size or measures of the child's intelligence, psychological health or cardiovascular system. Children whose mothers' concentration of 25(OH)-vitamin D in pregnancy was >75 nmol/l had an increased risk of eczema on examination at 9 months (OR 3.26, 95% CI 1.15-9.29, p=0.025) and asthma at age 9 years (OR 5.40, 95% CI, 1.09-26.65, p=0.038) compared to children whose mothers' concentration was <30 nmol/l.

Conclusion:

Exposure to maternal concentrations of 25(OH)-vitamin D in pregnancy in excess of 75 nmol/l does not appear to influence the child's intelligence, psychological health or cardiovascular system; there could be an increased risk of atopic disorders, but this needs confirmation in other studies.

Context:

Evidence suggests that babies' fat mass at birth is greater if their mothers were themselves fatter during pregnancy, but it is unclear whether this association persists into childhood.

Objective:

To examine the relation between maternal size in pregnancy, early growth and body composition in children.

Design:

Prospective cohort study

Setting:

Southampton, UK.

Participants:

216 nine-year-old children whose mothers had participated in a study of nutrition during pregnancy.

Main outcome measures:

Fat mass and lean mass measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, adjusted for height (“fat mass index” and “lean mass index”).

Results:

Fat mass index at age nine years was greater in children whose mothers had a larger mid-upper arm circumference in late pregnancy or a higher pre-pregnant body mass index. For one standard deviation (SD) increase in maternal mid-upper arm circumference in late pregnancy, fat mass index rose by 0.26 (95% CI 0.06-0.46) SD in boys and by 0.44 (95% CI 0.31-0.57) SD in girls. For one SD increase in maternal pre-pregnant BMI, fat mass index rose by 0.26 (95% CI 0.04-0.48) SD in boys and by 0.42 (95% CI 0.29-0.56) SD in girls.

Conclusions:

Mothers with a higher pre-pregnant body mass index or a larger mid-upper arm circumference during pregnancy tend to have children with greater adiposity at age nine. The extent to which this is attributable to genetic factors, the influence of maternal lifestyle on that of her child, or maternal adiposity acting specifically during pregnancy on the child's fat mass cannot be determined in this study.