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Maternal obesity during pregnancy and premature mortality from cardiovascular event in adult offspring: follow-up of 1 323 275 person years
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular events in adult offspring. DESIGN: Record linkage cohort analysis. SETTING: Birth records from the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal databank linked to the General Register of Deaths, Scotland, and the Scottish Morbidity Record systems. POPULATION: 37 709 people with birth records from 1950 to present day. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Death and hospital admissions for cardiovascular events up to 1 January 2012 in offspring aged 34-61. Maternal body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight measured at the first antenatal visit. The effect of maternal obesity on outcomes in offspring was tested with time to event analysis with Cox proportional hazard regression to compare outcomes in offspring of mothers in underweight, overweight, or obese categories of BMI compared with offspring of women with normal BMI. RESULTS: All cause mortality was increased in offspring of obese mothers (BMI >30) compared with mothers with normal BMI after adjustment for maternal age at delivery, socioeconomic status, sex of offspring, current age, birth weight, gestation at delivery, and gestation at measurement of BMI (hazard ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 1.55). In adjusted models, offspring of obese mothers also had an increased risk of hospital admission for a cardiovascular event (1.29, 1.06 to 1.57) compared with offspring of mothers with normal BMI. The offspring of overweight mothers also had a higher risk of adverse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk of premature death in adult offspring. As one in five women in the United Kingdom is obese at antenatal booking, strategies to optimise weight before pregnancy are urgently required.
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“Therefore, fetuses of obese mothers are exposed to an imbalance of cytokines, as well as nutrients that can negatively affect fetal programming, leading to adverse long-term effects in the offspring.”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“Increased oxidative stress and inflammation markers have been found in the placenta of obese mothers, suggesting a decisive role of an abnormal intrauterine environment in modulating fetal programming [76,79].”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
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“The negative effect of maternal obesity on offspring health might be mediated by an alteration in the inflammatory state and an increase in oxidative stress due to excess adipose tissue.”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“Pregnancy is normally an inflammatory state caused by the remodeling of immunological system to allow embryo implantation, growth and life, regulated by a delicate balance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines; in pregnancies complicated by obesity, this balance is shifted mainly towards a pro-inflammatory state.”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
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“The results showed an increase in mortality in offspring of overweight or obese mothers, particularly for cardiovascular events; moreover, approximately 7.6% of offspring were hospitalized for a cardiovascular event.”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
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“In conclusion, there is a positive relationship between maternal BMI and offspring cardiovascular risk [76,77,78].”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
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“Evidence of a key role of inflammation in fetal programming was provided by Reynolds et al. in 2015, thanks to a study where supplementation with an anti-inflammatory molecule, the conjugated linoleic acid, led to a reduction in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β and metabolic dysfunction in offspring [76,79].”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [76]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Reynolds, R. M., Allan, K. M., Raja, E. A., Bhattacharya, S., McNeill, G., Hannaford, P. C., Sarwar, N., Lee, A. J., Bhattacharya, S., & Norman, J. E.
- Affiliations
- The Queen's Medical Research Institute (GB)
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- MRC Centre for Reproductive Health (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Reynolds, R. M.
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2013-08-13
- Volume
- 347
- Issue
- aug13 1
- Pages
- f4539-f4539
- ISSN
- 1756-1833 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3805484
- OpenAlex
- W2071058949
- Cited by
- 571
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 61 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 9
- FWCI
- 50.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
- Aberdeen University Research Archive (Aberdeen University) (submittedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- British Heart Foundation
- Tommy's
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- maternal obesity, maternal body mass index, pregnancy, adult offspring, cardiovascular mortality, cardiovascular hospital admissions, premature mortality, maternal overweight
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Birth Weight, Cardiovascular Diseases, Epidemiologic Methods, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Obesity, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Scotland, Body Mass Index, Adult Children, Mortality, Premature
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