Association between caesarean section delivery and obesity in childhood: a longitudinal cohort study in Ireland



Masukume, Gwinyai, McCarthy, Fergus P, Baker, Philip N, Kenny, Louise C ORCID: 0000-0002-9011-759X, Morton, Susan MB, Murray, Deirdre M, Hourihane, Jonathan O'B and Khashan, Ali S
(2019) Association between caesarean section delivery and obesity in childhood: a longitudinal cohort study in Ireland. BMJ OPEN, 9 (3). e025051-.

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Abstract

<h4>Objectives</h4>To investigate the association between caesarean section (CS) birth and body fat percentage (BF%), body mass index (BMI) and being overweight or obese in early childhood.<h4>Design</h4>Prospective longitudinal cohort study.<h4>Setting</h4>Babies After Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact on Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints cohort.<h4>Participants</h4>Infants born to mothers recruited from the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints study, Cork University Maternity Hospital between November 2007 and February 2011.<h4>Outcome measure</h4>Overweight or obese defined according to the International Obesity Task Force criteria.<h4>Results</h4>Of the 1305 infants, 362 (27.8%) were delivered by CS. On regression analysis, BF% at 2 months did not differ significantly by delivery mode. Infants born by CS had a higher mean BMI at 6 months compared with those born vaginally (adjusted mean difference=0.24; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.41, p value=0.009). At 2 years, no difference was seen across the exposure groups in the risk of being overweight or obese. At 5 years, the association between prelabour CS and the risk of overweight or obesity was not statistically significant (adjusted relative risk ratio, aRRR=1.37; 95% CI 0.69 to 2.69) and the association remained statistically nonsignificant when children who were macrosomic at birth were excluded from the model (aRRR=0.86; 95% CI 0.36 to 2.08).<h4>Conclusion</h4>At 6 months of age, children born by CS had a significantly higher BMI but this did not persist into future childhood. There was no evidence to support an association between mode of delivery and long-term risk of obesity in the child.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Humans, Birth Weight, Body Mass Index, Delivery, Obstetric, Cesarean Section, Risk Factors, Cohort Studies, Longitudinal Studies, Prospective Studies, Child, Child, Preschool, Infant, Ireland, Male, Pediatric Obesity
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 04 Dec 2019 10:38
Last Modified: 18 Oct 2023 20:29
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025051
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3064608