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Eating Habits of Children Born after Maternal Bariatric Surgery

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Mothers who underwent bariatric surgery (BS) before pregnancy have worrisome eating habits, but little is known about the eating habits of their offspring. EFFECTOR is a cross-sectional, long-term follow-up study of 4-11-year-old children born from mothers that underwent bariatric surgery before pregnancy (n = 36), mothers with overweight/obesity (OW/OB) in a control group (n = 71), and mothers with a normal weight (NW) in a second control group (n = 35). Data on anthropometry and on eating habits obtained through a Food Frequency Questionnaire were collected prospectively. The children's body mass index (BMI) scores significantly correlated with maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was the highest in children of the BS group (38.9% vs. 15.5% for children of the OW/OB group and 5.7% for those of the NW group; p = 0.004). Meal-skipping behavior was comparable between the groups. There was no difference in fruit and vegetable consumption. The BS group consumed more low-calorie sweetened beverages compared to the NW group (p = 0.01) but less fruit juice compared to the NW and OW/OB groups (p = 0.01). Our results may indicate a sugar-avoiding behavior in children of the BS group, fitting dietary maternal habits in a strategy to prevent dumping syndrome. In conclusion, maternal pre-pregnancy bariatric surgery does not alter unhealthy eating behaviors and the risk of development of overweight during childhood in their children.

Journal: Nutrients
ISSN: 2072-6643
Issue: 9
Volume: 12
Pages: 1-16
Publication year:2020
Keywords:childhood diet, maternal bariatric surgery, maternal obesity
  • ORCID: /0000-0002-7703-022X/work/105289289
  • ORCID: /0000-0002-0706-0343/work/79649198
  • ORCID: /0000-0002-8571-0858/work/79646400
  • WoS Id: 000579983200001
  • Scopus Id: 85090009891
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092577
CSS-citation score:1
Accessibility:Open