Maternal pregnancy weight or gestational weight gain and offspring's blood pressure: A systematic review

Aims: An increasing number of studies suggest that maternal weight parameters in pregnancy are associated with offspring's blood pressure (BP). The aim of this systematic review -following the updated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement -was to assess and judge the evidence for an association between maternal pregnancy weight/body mass index (BMI) or gestational weight gain (GWG) with offspring's BP in later life.Data synthesis: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched without limits. Risk of bias was assessed using the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-tool, and an evidence grade was allocated following the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Of 7,124 publications retrieved, 16 studies (all cohort studies) were included in the systematic re-view. Overall data from 52,606 participants (0 years [newborns] to 32 years) were enclosed. As-sociation between maternal pregnancy BMI and offspring's BP were analyzed in 2 (both good-quality rated) studies, without consistent results. GWG and offspring's BP was analyzed in 14 studies (2 good-quality, 9 fair-quality, 3 poor-quality rated). Of these, 3 fair-quality studies described significant positive results for systolic BP and significant results, but partly with varying directions of effect estimates for diastolic BP. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was analyzed in 1 poor-quality congress paper. Overall, based on the small number of good-quality-rated studies and the inconsistency of effect direction, no firm conclusion can be drawn.Conclusion: Evidence for an association of maternal pregnancy weight determinants with off-spring's BP was overall graded as limited -no conclusion.(c) 2021 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This systematic review assessed the evidence for an association between maternal pregnancy weight parameters and offspring's blood pressure. Based on the limited number of good-quality studies and inconsistent effect directions, no firm conclusion can be drawn.