Prenatal stress due to a natural disaster predicts adiposity in childhood: the Iowa Flood Study

Kelsey N Dancause; David P Laplante; Kimberly J Hart; Michael W O'Hara; Guillaume Elgbeili; Alain Brunet; Suzanne King

doi:10.1155/2015/570541

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Prenatal stress due to a natural disaster predicts adiposity in childhood: the Iowa Flood Study

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Prenatal stress due to a natural disaster predicts adiposity in childhood: the Iowa Flood Study

Kelsey N Dancause, David P Laplante, Kimberly J Hart, Michael W O'Hara, Guillaume Elgbeili, Alain Brunet and Suzanne King

Journal of obesity, Vol.2015, pp.570541-10

2015

DOI: 10.1155/2015/570541

PMCID: PMC4383437

PMID: 25874124

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Abstract

Prenatal stress can affect lifelong physical growth, including increased obesity risk. However, human studies remain limited. Natural disasters provide models of independent stressors unrelated to confounding maternal characteristics. We assessed degree of objective hardship and subjective distress in women pregnant during severe flooding. At ages 2.5 and 4 years we assessed body mass index (BMI), subscapular plus triceps skinfolds (SS + TR, an index of total adiposity), and SS : TR ratio (an index of central adiposity) in their children (n = 106). Hierarchical regressions controlled first for several potential confounds. Controlling for these, flood exposure during early gestation predicted greater BMI increase from age 2.5 to 4, as well as total adiposity at 2.5. Greater maternal hardship and distress due to the floods, as well as other nonflood life events during pregnancy, independently predicted greater increase in total adiposity between 2.5 and 4 years. These results support the hypothesis that prenatal stress increases adiposity beginning in childhood and suggest that early gestation is a sensitive period. Results further highlight the additive effects of maternal objective and subjective stress, life events, and depression, emphasizing the importance of continued studies on multiple, detailed measures of maternal mental health and experience in pregnancy and child growth.

Body Mass Index

Depression - physiopathology

Depression - epidemiology

Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology

Humans

Risk Factors

Child, Preschool

Male

Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - physiopathology

Floods

Pregnancy

Adiposity

Disasters

Maternal Behavior

Adult

Depression - complications

Female

Iowa - epidemiology

Skinfold Thickness

Details

Title: Subtitle: Prenatal stress due to a natural disaster predicts adiposity in childhood: the Iowa Flood Study
Creators: Kelsey N Dancause - Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, QC, Canada H2X 1Y4
David P Laplante - Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada H4H 1R3
Kimberly J Hart - University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Michael W O'Hara - University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Guillaume Elgbeili - Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada H4H 1R3
Alain Brunet - Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada H4H 1R3 ; McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 0G4
Suzanne King - Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada H4H 1R3 ; McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 0G4
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of obesity, Vol.2015, pp.570541-10
DOI: 10.1155/2015/570541
PMID: 25874124
PMCID: PMC4383437
NLM abbreviation: J Obes
ISSN: 2090-0708
eISSN: 2090-0716
Publisher: United States
Grant note: Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Language: English
Date published: 2015
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984003485302771

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