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Neonatal bone mass: influence of parental birthweight, maternal smoking, body composition, and activity during pregnancy

Neonatal bone mass: influence of parental birthweight, maternal smoking, body composition, and activity during pregnancy
Neonatal bone mass: influence of parental birthweight, maternal smoking, body composition, and activity during pregnancy
Evidence is accumulating that intrauterine growth and development may influence an individual's risk of osteoporosis in later adult life. To examine maternal and paternal influences on intrauterine skeletal growth, we used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure the neonatal bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of 145 infants born at term. Independently of the infant's duration of gestation at birth, the birthweights of both parents and the height of the father were positively correlated with neonatal whole body BMC. Women who smoked during pregnancy had infants with a lower whole body BMC and BMD; overall, there was a 7.1-g (11%) average difference between whole body BMC of infants whose mothers did and did not smoke during pregnancy (p = 0.005). Women with thinner triceps skinfold thicknesses (reflecting lower fat stores) and those who reported a faster walking pace and more frequent vigorous activity in late pregnancy also tended to have infants with a lower BMC and BMD (p values for BMC; 0.02, 0.03, and 0.05, respectively). Maternal thinness and faster walking pace but not maternal smoking or parental birthweight also were associated with lower bone mineral apparent density (BMAD). The influences on skeletal growth and mineralization were independent of placental weight, a marker of the placental capacity to deliver nutrients to the fetus. These observations point to a combination of genetic and intrauterine environmental influences on prenatal skeletal development and suggest that environmental modulation, even at this early stage of life, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in adulthood.
neonatal bone mineral content, maternal smoking, maternal body composition, maternal activity, parental birthweight
0884-0431
1694-1703
Godfrey, Keith M.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Walker-Bone, Karen E.
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Robinson, Sian
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Taylor, Pat
ba21d7b2-fc94-46db-a75f-f437f10baf69
Shore, Sarah
aa9d9d2d-87af-43fa-871c-7da239025eb6
Wheeler, Timothy
6aefc7d2-5cf8-4a45-8295-144cf78a7edb
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Godfrey, Keith M.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Walker-Bone, Karen E.
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Robinson, Sian
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Taylor, Pat
ba21d7b2-fc94-46db-a75f-f437f10baf69
Shore, Sarah
aa9d9d2d-87af-43fa-871c-7da239025eb6
Wheeler, Timothy
6aefc7d2-5cf8-4a45-8295-144cf78a7edb
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6

Godfrey, Keith M., Walker-Bone, Karen E., Robinson, Sian, Taylor, Pat, Shore, Sarah, Wheeler, Timothy and Cooper, Cyrus (2001) Neonatal bone mass: influence of parental birthweight, maternal smoking, body composition, and activity during pregnancy. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 16 (9), 1694-1703. (doi:10.1359/jbmr.2001.16.9.1694).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Evidence is accumulating that intrauterine growth and development may influence an individual's risk of osteoporosis in later adult life. To examine maternal and paternal influences on intrauterine skeletal growth, we used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure the neonatal bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of 145 infants born at term. Independently of the infant's duration of gestation at birth, the birthweights of both parents and the height of the father were positively correlated with neonatal whole body BMC. Women who smoked during pregnancy had infants with a lower whole body BMC and BMD; overall, there was a 7.1-g (11%) average difference between whole body BMC of infants whose mothers did and did not smoke during pregnancy (p = 0.005). Women with thinner triceps skinfold thicknesses (reflecting lower fat stores) and those who reported a faster walking pace and more frequent vigorous activity in late pregnancy also tended to have infants with a lower BMC and BMD (p values for BMC; 0.02, 0.03, and 0.05, respectively). Maternal thinness and faster walking pace but not maternal smoking or parental birthweight also were associated with lower bone mineral apparent density (BMAD). The influences on skeletal growth and mineralization were independent of placental weight, a marker of the placental capacity to deliver nutrients to the fetus. These observations point to a combination of genetic and intrauterine environmental influences on prenatal skeletal development and suggest that environmental modulation, even at this early stage of life, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in adulthood.

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More information

Published date: 2001
Keywords: neonatal bone mineral content, maternal smoking, maternal body composition, maternal activity, parental birthweight

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25548
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25548
ISSN: 0884-0431
PURE UUID: 59cc3f4f-a6af-49d6-8c9f-49ce7b87ce5a
ORCID for Keith M. Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618
ORCID for Karen E. Walker-Bone: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-1459
ORCID for Sian Robinson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-7269
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

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Date deposited: 07 Apr 2006
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:51

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Contributors

Author: Sian Robinson ORCID iD
Author: Pat Taylor
Author: Sarah Shore
Author: Timothy Wheeler
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD

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