Maternal pregnancy-related anxiety and offspring physical growth in childhood: the Ma’anshan birth cohort study

Background: Epidemiological studies have identified maternal antenatal anxiety and adverse birth outcomes, but absence of epidemiological studies has examined the relationship with long term physical growth in children. Methods: : 3,154 mother-child pairs were included based the Ma’anshan birth cohort study. Maternal prenatal anxiety was obtained by administering a questionnaire using the pregnancy-related anxiety questionnaire (PRAQ) scale during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester. Body fat (BF) and body mass index (BMI) were collected on children from birth to 72 months. Group-based trajectory models were applied to fit the different trajectories of BMI and BF. Results: : Maternal anxiety in the 2nd (OR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68 to 0.98) and 3rd (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.68 to 0.98) trimester was associated with a decreased risk of RWG in the first year of life. Children aged at 48 to72 months of mothers with anxiety in the 3rd trimester had lower BMI (β = -0.145; 95% CI, -0.279 to -0.011) and BF (β = -0.194; 95% CI, -0.340 to -0.048), and these children were less likely to develop a very high BMI trajectory (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.93), and a high BF trajectory (OR = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.52 to 0.98). A similar association was found between maternal anxiety simultaneously in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters and child physical growth. Conclusions: : Maternal prenatal anxiety in the 2nd and 3rd trimester may decrease weight status in preschool-aged children, which may be related to reduced weight gain in infancy resulting in.