Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and development of allergic rhinitis and asthma in their offspring at age of 6 years

[[abstract]]Background: Previous studies have reported the positive association between maternal pre ‐ pregnancy overweight / obesity and asthma in early childhood of their offspring, although the evidence supporting the association is inconclusive. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of maternal pre ‐ pregnancy overweight / obesity on asthma and allergic rhinitis among their children at 6 years of age. Method: his study included 613 children enrolled in the Longitudinal Investigation of Global Health in Taiwanese Schoolchildren (LIGHTS) cohort (age 6.3 ± 0.3 years; 345 boys, 56.3%). Information about maternal pre ‐ pregnancy BMI was ascertained by a questionnaire. Asthma and allergic rhinitis were diagnosed based on a physician interview. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by logistic regression with adjustment for relevant confounding factors, such as age, gender, birth weight, child ' s body mass index, maternal age, number of older siblings and maternal history of allergic diseases. Results: In this study, 14.2% (n = 79) of children born to mothers with pre ‐ pregnancy overweight / obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) equal to 25.0 or more before pregnancy; 15.1% (n = 84) and 50.8% (n = 283) of children developed physician ‐ diagnosed asthma and allergic rhinitis, respectively. Compared to mothers with pre ‐pregnancy normal weight, we found no significant association of maternal pre ‐ pregnancy overweight / obesity with asthma (AOR = 1.53; 95% CI = 0.77 ‐ 3.06) or allergic rhinitis (AOR = 1.71; 95% CI = 0.99 ‐ 2.95) among their offspring. Conclusion: Our results suggest that maternal pre ‐ pregnancy overweight / obesity may not be a significant risk factor on development of asthma or allergic rhinitis in offspring at early school age. Further research with a larger sample size is needed to confirm the findings in this study