Maternal obesity and childhood wheezing and asthma

Abstract

Obesity represents one of the major public health problems worldwide, with an increased prevalence also among women of reproductive age. Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity are important risk factors for a number of maternal and foetal/neonatal complications. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the most recent evidence regarding the associations between pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and wheezing and asthma in childhood. Potential mechanisms, mediators and confounding factors involved in these associations are also discussed. Despite the relatively large body of studies examining these associations and taking into account main confounders and potential mediators, the causal relationship between maternal obesity and wheezing and asthma in childhood is still uncertain. This uncertainty is not trivial, as any prevention strategy aimed at reducing the burden of these conditions would necessarily imply better understanding of the factors that are in the causal chain.

Keywords: Maternal obesity; asthma; cohort studies; foetal programming; wheezing.