Maternal eating disorders and prepregnancy BMI linked to mental disorders in offsprings: JAMA

• The study comprised a total of 3,92,098 women with an average age of 30.15 (5.38) years. Of them, 42,590 (10.86%) were born outside of Finland, 6273 (1.60%) had a history of an eating problem, 23,114 (5.89%) were underweight before pregnancy, and 2,08,335 (53.13%) were overweight or obese.
• Even after controlling for possible variables, maternal eating disorders, prenatal underweight, and overweight or obesity were linked to the majority of the examined psychiatric illnesses in children.
• The biggest impact sizes were seen for maternal eating disorders not otherwise defined in relation to offspring sleep problems, social functioning, and tic disorders, whereas for maternal severe pre-pregnancy obesity, offspring intellectual impairments had the greatest influence.
• Adverse birth outcomes increased the likelihood of kids developing various eating disorders during childhood and infancy, as well as conduct disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Overall, offspring born to mothers who had eating disorders before or during pregnancy, or who were underweight, overweight, or obese prior to pregnancy, may be at a higher risk of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.

Source:

Nilsson, I. A. K., Ozsvar, J., Gissler, M., & Lavebratt, C. (2024). Maternal Eating Disorders, Body Mass Index, and Offspring Psychiatric Diagnoses. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 7, Issue 10, p. e2440517). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.40517