Maternal early pregnancy body mass index and bipolar disorder in the offspring.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between maternal early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and offspring bipolar disorder (BPD). METHODS: We conducted a nationwide cohort study among 1,507,056 non-malformed singleton live-births in Sweden born 1983-2004. Using national registries with prospectively recorded information, we followed participants for a BPD diagnosis from ages 13 to up to 35 years. We compared BPD risks by early pregnancy BMI using hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) from adjusted Cox models. We also conducted sibling-controlled analyses among 874,047 full siblings. RESULTS: There were 9970 BPD diagnoses. Risk of BPD was 0.72% through 25 years of age. Maternal early pregnancy BMI was positively associated with offspring BPD risk. Compared with normal BMI (18.5-24.9), adjusted HR (95% CI) for overweight (BMI 25-29.9), obesity grade 1 (BMI 30-34.9), and obesity grades 2-3 (BMI ≥35) were 1.08 (1.02, 1.15), 1.26 (1.14, 1.40), and 1.31 (1.07, 1.60), respectively. Adjusted HR per unit BMI was 1.015 (95% CI 1.009, 1.021). A similar trend was observed among siblings. Pregnancy and neonatal complications did not substantially mediate the association between maternal obesity (BMI ≥30) and offspring BPD. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal BMI ≥25 is associated with offspring BPD risk in a dose-response manner.

Associations of pregnancy complications and neonatal characteristics with bipolar disorder in the offspring: Nationwide cohort and sibling-controlled studies.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of neonatal characteristics and pregnancy complications with bipolar disorder (BPD) in offspring. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide cohort study among 2,059,578 non-malformed singleton live-births in Sweden born 1983-2004. Using national registries with prospectively recorded information, we followed participants for a BPD diagnosis from 13 up to 34 years of age. We compared BPD risks between exposure categories using hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) from adjusted Cox models. We also conducted sibling-controlled analyses among 1,467,819 full siblings. RESULTS: There were 14,998 BPD diagnoses. Risk of BPD was 0.74% through 25 years of age. Very/extremely preterm birth (22 to 31 weeks) was related to increased BPD HRs in sibling-controlled analyses; compared with a gestational age of 37 weeks, adjusted HR (95% CI) for 31, 28, and 22 weeks were, respectively, 1.31 (0.99, 1.74), 2.09 (1.15, 3.79), and 5.74 (1.15, 28.63). Spontaneous but not medically indicated very/extremely preterm birth was associated with increased risk. Compared with vaginal birth, caesarean section birth was associated with 1.20 (1.08, 1.33) and 1.58 (1.06, 2.36) times higher BPD risk in general and sibling cohorts, respectively. Small-for-gestational age (SGA) birth was related to increased BPD HRs in general cohort and sibling analyses (HRs [95% CI] were 1.22 [1.06, 1.39] and 1.68 [1.13, 2.50], respectively); only term SGA was associated with increased risk. Head circumference-for-gestational age, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and placental abruption were not associated with BPD. CONCLUSIONS: Very/extremely preterm birth, caesarean birth, and SGA are related to BPD incidence.

Common infectious morbidity and white blood cell count in middle childhood predict behavior problems in adolescence.

We examined the associations of middle childhood infectious morbidity and inflammatory biomarkers with adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. We recruited 1018 Colombian schoolchildren aged 5-12 years into a cohort. We quantified white blood cell (WBC) counts and C-reactive protein at enrollment and prospectively recorded incidence of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and fever-associated morbidity during the first follow-up year. After a median 6 years, we assessed adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior problems using child behavior checklist (CBCL) and youth self-report (YSR) questionnaires. Behavior problem scores were compared over biomarker and morbidity categories using mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from multivariable linear regression. Compared with children without symptoms, CBCL internalizing problem scores were an adjusted 2.5 (95% CI: 0.1, 4.9; p = .04) and 3.1 (95% CI: 1.1, 5.2; p = .003) units higher among children with moderate diarrhea with vomiting and high cough with fever rates, respectively. High cough with fever and high fever rates were associated with increased CBCL somatic complaints and anxious/depressed scores, respectively. WBC >10,000/mm3 was associated with both internalizing problem and YSR withdrawn/depressed scores. There were no associations with externalizing behavior problems. Whether or not decreasing the burden of common infections results in improved neurobehavioral outcomes warrants further investigation.

Associations of preterm birth, small-for-gestational age, preeclampsia and placental abruption with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the offspring: Nationwide cohort and sibling-controlled studies.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate preterm birth, small-for-gestational age (SGA), preeclampsia and placental abruption in relation to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study among non-malformed live-born singleton children in Sweden born during 2002-2014. Using national registries with recorded information, we followed 1,212,201 children for an ADHD diagnosis from 3 to 15 years. We compared ADHD rates between exposure categories using adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) from Cox proportional hazards models. We also conducted sibling-controlled analyses among 751,464 full siblings. RESULTS: There were 27,665 ADHD diagnoses in the cohort. Compared with term birth (≥37 weeks), adjusted HR (95% CI) for ADHD increased with decreasing gestational age: 1.18 (1.11, 1.25), 1.61 (1.37, 1.89) and 2.79 (2.23, 3.49) for 32-36 weeks, 28-31 weeks and 22-27 weeks. Both spontaneous and medically indicated preterm birth were associated with ADHD. SGA was related to 1.62 (1.49, 1.77) times higher ADHD incidence. Preeclampsia, but not placental abruption, was associated with ADHD. Sibling-controlled analyses showed similar results. Preterm birth did not fully explain the associations of SGA or preeclampsia with ADHD. CONCLUSION: Preterm birth, SGA and preeclampsia are related to ADHD incidence in offspring.

Median Urinary Iodine Concentration in Colombian Children and Women is High and Related to Sociodemographic and Geographic Characteristics: Results from a Nationally Representative Survey.

BACKGROUND: Salt iodization has been mandatory in Colombia for over half a century. The iodine status of the population has not been recently evaluated using nationally representative data. OBJECTIVE: We estimated the median urinary iodine concentration (mUIC) of Colombian women and children overall and by individual and environmental characteristics. METHODS: Using data from spot urine samples collected in the 2015 Colombian National Nutrition Survey, we estimated mUIC in 24,248 boys and girls aged 1 to <13 y and 9122 women of reproductive age (WRA). Within each group, we compared mUIC by levels of sociodemographic, anthropometric, and geographic factors by using adjusted median differences with 95% CIs from quantile regression models. RESULTS: mUICs were 395 ± 3 µg/L among children and 381 ± 3 µg/L among WRA. Schoolchildren 5 to <13 y old had higher mUIC (407 ± 3 µg/L) than did preschoolers or toddlers. Girls had 21 µg/L (95% CI: -29, -14) lower mUIC than boys after adjustment. In addition, among children, mUIC was positively associated with household wealth and inversely associated with indigenous compared with mestizo ethnicity, living in the southern or Pacific compared with the central regions of Colombia, and altitude. Among WRA, mUIC was positively associated with obesity and inversely with age, indigenous compared with mestizo ethnicity, education, household wealth, living in southern compared with central Colombia, altitude, and alcohol intake frequency. CONCLUSION: Colombian children and WRA had mUIC well above conventional cutpoints of iodine excess. Whether excessive iodine affects other subpopulations and its functional consequences warrant urgent investigation.

Prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency in a tropical setting: results from a nationally representative survey.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) may be high in countries with abundant sun exposure year-round, but nationally representative data are lacking. OBJECTIVE: We examined the prevalence and distribution of VDD by individual and environmental characteristics in a nationally representative sample of Colombian children, pregnant women, and adult nonpregnant women. METHODS: Using the 2015 Colombian National Nutrition Survey, we defined VDD and low vitamin D (LVD) as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] <30 nmol/L and <50 nmol/L, respectively, in 31,841 children aged 1 to <18 y, 1262 pregnant women, and 7170 nonpregnant women aged 18-49 y. Within each group, we compared VDD and LVD prevalence by levels of sociodemographic, anthropometric, and geographic factors using adjusted prevalence ratios with 95% CIs from multivariable Poisson regression. RESULTS: The mean ± SE 25(OH)D was 65.1 ± 0.4 nmol/L. The prevalence ± SE of VDD and LVD was 3.1% ± 0.3% and 23.9% ± 0.8%, respectively. Pregnant women had the highest VDD prevalence at 6.7% ± 1.5%, whereas toddlers had the highest prevalence of LVD at 42.5% ± 1.8%. Altitude was one of the strongest correlates of VDD and LVD, with every 100 m above sea level related to a 4% increase in LVD prevalence (P <0.0001). Among children, VDD was positively associated with BMI-for-age Z >1 and maternal education. Among pregnant women, VDD was positively related to education. Among adult nonpregnant women, VDD was associated with BMI and household wealth. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of VDD and LVD in Colombian women and children is nonnegligible; some age groups are disproportionately affected. Altitude was a strong predictor of vitamin D status in this tropical setting. VDD was positively related to indicators of higher socioeconomic status.