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Masukume, Gwinyai, McCarthy, Fergus P., Baker, Philip N. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4592-6427, Kenny, Louise C., Morton, Susan M.B., Murray, Deirdre M., Hourihane, Jonathan O. and Khashan, Ali S.
(2019)
Association between caesarean section delivery and obesity in childhood: A longitudinal cohort study in Ireland.
BMJ Open, 9 (3).
ISSN 2044-6055
Abstract
Objectives: To investigate the association between caesarean section (CS) birth and body fat percentage (BF%), body mass index (BMI) and being overweight or obese in early childhood. Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study. Setting: Babies After Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact on Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints cohort. Participants: Infants born to mothers recruited from the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints study, Cork University Maternity Hospital between November 2007 and February 2011. Outcome measure: Overweight or obese defined according to the International Obesity Task Force criteria. Results Of the 1305 infants, 362 (27.8%) were delivered by CS. On regression analysis, BF% at 2 months did not differ significantly by delivery mode. Infants born by CS had a higher mean BMI at 6 months compared with those born vaginally (adjusted mean difference=0.24; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.41, p value=0.009). At 2 years, no difference was seen across the exposure groups in the risk of being overweight or obese. At 5 years, the association between prelabour CS and the risk of overweight or obesity was not statistically significant (adjusted relative risk ratio, aRRR=1.37; 95% CI 0.69 to 2.69) and the association remained statistically nonsignificant when children who were macrosomic at birth were excluded from the model (aRRR=0.86; 95% CI 0.36 to 2.08). Conclusion: At 6 months of age, children born by CS had a significantly higher BMI but this did not persist into future childhood. There was no evidence to support an association between mode of delivery and long-term risk of obesity in the child.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Author(s) (or their employer(s)). |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | body composition,body fat,caesarean section,childhood,ireland,obesity,general medicine,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2700 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Metabolic Health |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2025 16:30 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jun 2026 20:39 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99680 |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025051 |
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