Mother-child pairs
Dr. Perak and colleagues used data from the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes (HAPO) study and the HAPO Follow-up Study.
Participants were 2,302 mother-child pairs from nine field centers in Barbados, Canada, China, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States, and represented a racially and ethnically diverse cohort.
The mean ages were 29.6 years for pregnant mothers and 11.3 years for children. The pregnancies occurred between 2000 and 2006, and the children were examined from 2013 to 2016, when the children were aged 10-14 years.
Using the American Heart Association’s definition of cardiovascular health, the scientists categorized pregnancy health for mothers based on their measures of body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, glucose level, and smoking status at 28 weeks’ gestation. These five metrics of gestational cardiovascular health have been significantly associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
They categorized cardiovascular health for offspring at age 10-14 years based on four of these five metrics: body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose.
Only 32.8% of mothers and 42.2% of children had ideal cardiovascular health.
In analyses adjusted for pregnancy and birth outcomes, the associations seen between poor gestational maternal health and offspring cardiovascular health persisted but were attenuated.
Dr. Perak reported receiving grants from the Woman’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital; the Dixon Family; the American Heart Association; and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr. Daniels reported no conflicts of interest.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.