Associations of maternal educational level, proximity to green space during pregnancy, and gestational diabetes with body mass index from infancy to early adulthood: A proof-of-concept federated analysis in 18 birth cohorts
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
American Journal of Epidemiology
Volume
193
Issue
5
First Page
753
Last Page
763
PubMed ID
37856700
Publisher
Oxford Academic
School
Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute
RAS ID
66000
Funders
European Union's Horizon / European Research Council / Lundbeck Foundation / National institute for Health Research / The Research Council of Norway / UK Medical Research Council / UK National Institute for Health Research /
Grant Number
733206, ERC-2014-CoG-648916, R264-2017-3099, NIHR200166, 262700
Abstract
International sharing of cohort data for research is important and challenging. We explored the feasibility of multicohort federated analyses by examining associations between 3 pregnancy exposures (maternal education, exposure to green vegetation, and gestational diabetes) and offspring body mass index (BMI) from infancy to age 17 years. We used data from 18 cohorts (n = 206,180 mother-child pairs) from the EU Child Cohort Network and derived BMI at ages 0-1, 2-3, 4-7, 8-13, and 14-17 years. Associations were estimated using linear regression via 1-stage individual participant data meta-analysis using DataSHIELD. Associations between lower maternal education and higher child BMI emerged from age 4 and increased with age (difference in BMI z score comparing low with high education, at age 2-3 years = 0.03 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.00, 0.05), at 4-7 years = 0.16 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.17), and at 8-13 years = 0.24 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.26)). Gestational diabetes was positively associated with BMI from age 8 years (BMI z score difference = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.25) but not at younger ages; however, associations attenuated towards the null when restricted to cohorts that measured gestational diabetes via universal screening. Exposure to green vegetation was weakly associated with higher BMI up to age 1 year but not at older ages. Opportunities of cross-cohort federated analyses are discussed.
DOI
10.1093/aje/kwad206
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Comments
Cadman, T., Elhakeem, A., Vinther, J. L., Avraam, D., Carrasco, P., Calas, L., ... & Lawlor, D. (2024). Associations of Maternal Educational Level, Proximity to Green Space During Pregnancy, and Gestational Diabetes With Body Mass Index From Infancy to Early Adulthood: A Proof-of-Concept Federated Analysis in 18 Birth Cohorts. American journal of epidemiology, 193(5), 753-763. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwad206