Higher Maternal BMI in Pregnancy Associated with Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Risk in Daughters: Study

Key Findings:

• Children born to mothers with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 or higher in early pregnancy had a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with ALL compared to those born to mothers of normal weight (SIR, 1.2).
• There was no significant association between maternal underweight status in early pregnancy and childhood ALL (SIR, 1.1).
• Sons of overweight or obese mothers did not show an increased risk of ALL (SIR, 1.0).
• Daughters born to mothers with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 or higher in early pregnancy had a 40% greater risk of ALL compared to those born to mothers of normal weight (SIR, 1.4).
• Girls born to mothers with a BMI of 29 kg/m2 or higher before delivery had an increased risk of ALL compared to those born to mothers with a BMI of 22.5-28 kg/m2 (SIR, 1.4), while there was no such association in boys (SIR, 0.9).
• Analysis of gestational weight gain in 1,463,141 children revealed no significant difference in ALL risk between children born to mothers with high (SIR, 1.0) or low gestational weight gain (SIR, 1.0) compared to those with normal weight gain.

The researchers emphasized that this is the first study to highlight a sex-specific difference in the association between maternal BMI in early pregnancy and the risk of childhood ALL. They suggest that further research is needed to explore the potential role of sex hormones and chromosomal factors in this mother-daughter association.

Reference:

Liu, J., Kharazmi, E., Liang, Q., Chen, Y., Sundquist, J., Sundquist, K., & Fallah, M. (2025). Maternal weight during pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in offspring. Leukemia, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-025-02517-6