MATERNAL WEIGHT LOSS AND TRENDS IN CHILD BMI BEFORE AND AFTER MATERNAL BARIATRIC SURGERY
Laura E. Flores, Priscila R. Armijo*, Tailong Xu, Sarah Samreen, Crystal Krause, Tiffany Tanner
Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Introduction
Childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed to a record high of 18.5% in the United States and have been linked with significant chronic health issues. One of the strongest predictors of childhood obesity is parental obesity, a risk factor that can be modified through bariatric surgery. However, few studies have evaluated how bariatric surgery or non-surgical treatment in the mother impacts the health of family members. Our aim was to evaluate children's trends in BMI before and after maternal bariatric procedure or involvement in a non-surgical weight loss program.
Methods
A bariatric academic clinic, prospectively-collected database was reviewed for mothers who underwent bariatric surgery or were enrolled in a weight loss program (non-surgical), and had children <18 years old at the time of enrollment. Mother's health and eating habits were assessed using a Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, sent electronically to the mothers. Children's health records were reviewed for medical history, and child BMI z-scores were calculated according to mother's postoperative follow-up timeline. Analysis were conducted using SPSS.
Results
73 mother-child dyads (surgical: N= 52; non-surgical: N=21) were evaluated. Majority of mothers were Caucasian (81.6%), with mean age of 38±6.4 years, and mean BMI 45.8±5.93 kg/m2. 16.3% received food support, and annual income was lower than $80,000 in 64.8% of the cohort. Assessment of mother's eating patterns pre- to post-operatively showed improvement in cognitive restraint (13.25 to 17.55), uncontrolled eating (23.64 to 14.43), and emotional eating (8.57 to 5.46). There was a dramatic increase in Godin scores from 18.54 to 45.93, reflecting an increase in leisure-time exercise. Out of dyads, 18 children (surgical: N=13, non-surgical: N=5) were included. Mean age was 7.3± 2.7 years, and 72% were Caucasian. The majority of children had a normal BMI z-score initially (surgical: 89%; non-surgical: 100%). At long-term follow-up (mean: 4 years [2-11 years]), a third of the children in the surgical group were obese, with 36% being overweight, whereas 75% of the children in the non-surgical group were overweight.
Conclusions
Our results showed that mothers who have undergone bariatric procedures express greater cognitive restraint with reduced uncontrolled and emotional eating and engage in more leisure-time exercise postoperatively. Conversely, children in both groups had an increase in their BMI Z-score, at long-term. This data emphasizes the need for family-based interventions to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.
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