Impact of maternal gestational weight gain patterns on body mass index trajectories in children aged 0 - 3 years

CHU Guangping; WEI Wei; CHEN Ting; CAO Qiaolu; XU Xiangxiang; GONG Tian

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0862

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (1) : 23-28. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0862

Column on physical activity and childhood weight management

Impact of maternal gestational weight gain patterns on body mass index trajectories in children aged 0 - 3 years

CHU Guangping¹, WEI Wei¹, CHEN Ting¹, CAO Qiaolu¹, XU Xiangxiang², GONG Tian³

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Abstract

Objective To analyze the body mass index (BMI) trajectories in children aged 0 - 3 years, and to explore the impact of maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) patterns on these trajectories. Methods A cohort of pregnant women who delivered in Gusu District, Suzhou City from 2021—2022 was selected, and their children's height and weight were tracked from birth to 3 years of age.Latent class growth modeling (LCGM) was used to identify distinct BMI trajectories.The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to determine cumulative GWG AUC and incremental GWG AUC during pregnancy.Multivariable logistic regression was employed to examine the associations between GWG AUC quartiles and the identified BMI trajectory groups. Results Data from 10 590 mother-child pairs were analyzed.Three distinct BMI trajectories were identified: appropriate growth group, rise-then-decline group, and rapid growth group.Using the appropriate growth group as reference, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that compared to the first quartile of cumulative GWG AUC, the second (OR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.04 - 1.51), third (OR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.07 - 1.54), and fourth (OR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.15 - 1.66) quartiles were associated with an increased likelihood of belonging to the rise-then-decline group.The fourth quartile of cumulative GWG AUC also increased the risk of the rapid growth group (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.05 - 1.46).Stratified analysis suggested that the associations between GWG patterns and offspring BMI trajectory risks differed between boys and girls. Conclusions Children's BMI trajectories from 0 - 3 years can be categorized into three patterns: appropriate growth, rise-then-decline, and rapid growth.Suboptimal maternal GWG patterns are associated with an increased risk of children exhibiting either the rise-then-decline or rapid growth trajectory patterns.

Key words

growth trajectory / gestational weight gain pattern / area under the curve / children

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CHU Guangping, WEI Wei, CHEN Ting, CAO Qiaolu, XU Xiangxiang, GONG Tian. Impact of maternal gestational weight gain patterns on body mass index trajectories in children aged 0 - 3 years[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2026, 34(1): 23-28 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0862

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