Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries

Cathal McCrory; Siobhan Leahy; Ana Isabel Ribeiro; Silvia Fraga; Henrique Barros; Mauricio Avendano; Paolo Vineis; Richard Layte; Harri Alenius; Laura Baglietto; Mel Bartley; Michele Bellone; Eloise Berger; Murielle Bochud; Giulia Candiani; Cristian Carmeli; Luca Carra; Raphaele Castagne; Marc Chadeau-Hyam; Sergio Cima; Giuseppe Costa; Emilie Courtin; Cyrille Delpierre; Angelo D'Errico; Angela Donkin; Pierre Antoine Dugué; Paul Elliott; Guy Fagherazzi; Giovanni Fiorito; Martina Gandini; Valérie Gares; Pascale Gerbouin-Rerrolle; Graham Giles; Marcel Goldberg; Dario Greco; Florence Guida; Allison Hodge; Maryam Karimi; Piia Karisola; Michelle Kelly; Mika Kivimaki; Jessica Laine; Thierry Lang; Audrey Laurent; Benoit Lepage; Dori Lorsch; Giles Machell; Johan Mackenbach; Michael Marmot; Roger Milne; the LIFEPATH consortium

doi:10.1111/ppe.12552

Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries

Cathal McCrory^*, Siobhan Leahy, Ana Isabel Ribeiro, Silvia Fraga, Henrique Barros, Mauricio Avendano, Paolo Vineis, Richard Layte, Harri Alenius, Laura Baglietto, Mel Bartley, Michele Bellone, Eloise Berger, Murielle Bochud, Giulia Candiani, Cristian Carmeli, Luca Carra, Raphaele Castagne, Marc Chadeau-Hyam, Sergio CimaGiuseppe Costa, Emilie Courtin, Cyrille Delpierre, Angelo D'Errico, Angela Donkin, Pierre Antoine Dugué, Paul Elliott, Guy Fagherazzi, Giovanni Fiorito, Martina Gandini, Valérie Gares, Pascale Gerbouin-Rerrolle, Graham Giles, Marcel Goldberg, Dario Greco, Florence Guida, Allison Hodge, Maryam Karimi, Piia Karisola, Michelle Kelly, Mika Kivimaki, Jessica Laine, Thierry Lang, Audrey Laurent, Benoit Lepage, Dori Lorsch, Giles Machell, Johan Mackenbach, Michael Marmot, Roger Milne, the LIFEPATH consortium

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Precision Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Social inequalities in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity are well-established, but less is known about when the social gradient first emerges and how it evolves across childhood and adolescence. Objective: This study examines maternal education differentials in children's body mass trajectories in infancy, childhood and adolescence using data from four contemporary European child cohorts. Methods: Prospective data on children's body mass index (BMI) were obtained from four cohort studies—Generation XXI (G21—Portugal), Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) infant and child cohorts, and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS—UK)—involving a total sample of 41,399 children and 120,140 observations. Children's BMI trajectories were modelled by maternal education level using mixed-effect models. Results: Maternal educational inequalities in children's BMI were evident as early as three years of age. Children from lower maternal educational backgrounds were characterised by accelerated BMI growth, and the extent of the disparity was such that boys from primary-educated backgrounds measured 0.42 kg/m² (95% CI 0.24, 0.60) heavier at 7 years of age in G21, 0.90 kg/m²(95% CI 0.60, 1.19) heavier at 13 years of age in GUI and 0.75 kg/m² (95% CI 0.52, 0.97) heavier in MCS at 14 years of age. The corresponding figures for girls were 0.71 kg/m² (95% CI 0.50, 0.91), 1.31 kg/m² (95% CI 1.00, 1.62) and 0.76 kg/m² (95% CI 0.53, 1.00) in G21, GUI and MCS, respectively. Conclusions: Maternal education is a strong predictor of BMI across European nations. Socio-economic differentials emerge early and widen across childhood, highlighting the need for early intervention.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	226-237
Number of pages	12
Journal	Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology
Volume	33
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ppe.12552
Publication status	Published - May 2019

Keywords

body mass index
children
cohort study
growth curves
obesity
overweight
social inequalities

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10.1111/ppe.12552

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McCrory, C., Leahy, S., Ribeiro, A. I., Fraga, S., Barros, H., Avendano, M., Vineis, P., Layte, R., Alenius, H., Baglietto, L., Bartley, M., Bellone, M., Berger, E., Bochud, M., Candiani, G., Carmeli, C., Carra, L., Castagne, R., Chadeau-Hyam, M., ... the LIFEPATH consortium (2019). Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 33(3), 226-237. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppe.12552

@article{c97110e6c9a148738d142acca6c4a63b,

title = "Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries",

abstract = "Background: Social inequalities in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity are well-established, but less is known about when the social gradient first emerges and how it evolves across childhood and adolescence. Objective: This study examines maternal education differentials in children's body mass trajectories in infancy, childhood and adolescence using data from four contemporary European child cohorts. Methods: Prospective data on children's body mass index (BMI) were obtained from four cohort studies—Generation XXI (G21—Portugal), Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) infant and child cohorts, and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS—UK)—involving a total sample of 41,399 children and 120,140 observations. Children's BMI trajectories were modelled by maternal education level using mixed-effect models. Results: Maternal educational inequalities in children's BMI were evident as early as three years of age. Children from lower maternal educational backgrounds were characterised by accelerated BMI growth, and the extent of the disparity was such that boys from primary-educated backgrounds measured 0.42 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.24, 0.60) heavier at 7 years of age in G21, 0.90 kg/m2(95% CI 0.60, 1.19) heavier at 13 years of age in GUI and 0.75 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.52, 0.97) heavier in MCS at 14 years of age. The corresponding figures for girls were 0.71 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.50, 0.91), 1.31 kg/m2 (95% CI 1.00, 1.62) and 0.76 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.53, 1.00) in G21, GUI and MCS, respectively. Conclusions: Maternal education is a strong predictor of BMI across European nations. Socio-economic differentials emerge early and widen across childhood, highlighting the need for early intervention.",

keywords = "body mass index, children, cohort study, growth curves, obesity, overweight, social inequalities",

author = "Cathal McCrory and Siobhan Leahy and Ribeiro, {Ana Isabel} and Silvia Fraga and Henrique Barros and Mauricio Avendano and Paolo Vineis and Richard Layte and Harri Alenius and Laura Baglietto and Mel Bartley and Michele Bellone and Eloise Berger and Murielle Bochud and Giulia Candiani and Cristian Carmeli and Luca Carra and Raphaele Castagne and Marc Chadeau-Hyam and Sergio Cima and Giuseppe Costa and Emilie Courtin and Cyrille Delpierre and Angelo D'Errico and Angela Donkin and Dugu{\'e}, {Pierre Antoine} and Paul Elliott and Guy Fagherazzi and Giovanni Fiorito and Martina Gandini and Val{\'e}rie Gares and Pascale Gerbouin-Rerrolle and Graham Giles and Marcel Goldberg and Dario Greco and Florence Guida and Allison Hodge and Maryam Karimi and Piia Karisola and Michelle Kelly and Mika Kivimaki and Jessica Laine and Thierry Lang and Audrey Laurent and Benoit Lepage and Dori Lorsch and Giles Machell and Johan Mackenbach and Michael Marmot and Roger Milne and {the LIFEPATH consortium}",

note = "Funding Information: Cathal McCrory is supported by the Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland under an Emerging Investigator Award (EIA‐2017‐012). This work was also supported by the Lifepath grant to Paolo Vineis at Imperial College London (European Commission H2020, Grant number: 633666). Funding Information: Funding information Cathal McCrory is supported by the Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland under an Emerging Investigator Award (EIA-2017-012). This work was also supported by the Lifepath grant to Paolo Vineis at Imperial College London (European Commission H2020, Grant number: 633666). Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) has been funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in association with the central statistics office and the Department of Social Protection (DSP). These data have been collected in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1993. The DCYA, CSO and DSP take no responsibility for the views expressed or the outputs generated from the research undertaken. The project has been designed and implemented by the joint ESRI-TCD Growing Up in Ireland Study Team. The GUI data sets are freely available to researchers via the Irish Social Sciences Data Archive (https://www.ucd.ie/issda). The Millennium Cohort Study is conducted by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the Institute of Education, University of London. Data from the MCS surveys are held and distributed by the UK Data Service (http://ukdataservice.ac.uk) and are freely available to researchers under standard conditions. Neither CLS nor the UK Data Service bear any responsibility for the analysis or interpretation of these data. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the families enrolled in Generation XXI, Growing Up in Ireland and the Millennium Cohort Study, as well as the members of the respective research teams, hospitals and staff (G21) responsible for the collection and provision of data used in this paper. Funding Information: Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) has been funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in association with the central statistics office and the Department of Social Protection (DSP). These data have been col‐ lected in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1993. The DCYA, CSO and DSP take no responsibility for the views expressed or the out‐ puts generated from the research undertaken. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd",

year = "2019",

month = may,

doi = "10.1111/ppe.12552",

language = "English",

volume = "33",

pages = "226--237",

journal = "Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology",

issn = "0269-5022",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "3",

}

McCrory, C, Leahy, S, Ribeiro, AI, Fraga, S, Barros, H, Avendano, M, Vineis, P, Layte, R, Alenius, H, Baglietto, L, Bartley, M, Bellone, M, Berger, E, Bochud, M, Candiani, G, Carmeli, C, Carra, L, Castagne, R, Chadeau-Hyam, M, Cima, S, Costa, G, Courtin, E, Delpierre, C, D'Errico, A, Donkin, A, Dugué, PA, Elliott, P, Fagherazzi, G, Fiorito, G, Gandini, M, Gares, V, Gerbouin-Rerrolle, P, Giles, G, Goldberg, M, Greco, D, Guida, F, Hodge, A, Karimi, M, Karisola, P, Kelly, M, Kivimaki, M, Laine, J, Lang, T, Laurent, A, Lepage, B, Lorsch, D, Machell, G, Mackenbach, J, Marmot, M, Milne, R & the LIFEPATH consortium 2019, 'Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries', Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 226-237. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppe.12552

TY - JOUR

T1 - Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries

AU - McCrory, Cathal

AU - Leahy, Siobhan

AU - Ribeiro, Ana Isabel

AU - Fraga, Silvia

AU - Barros, Henrique

AU - Avendano, Mauricio

AU - Vineis, Paolo

AU - Layte, Richard

AU - Alenius, Harri

AU - Baglietto, Laura

AU - Bartley, Mel

AU - Bellone, Michele

AU - Berger, Eloise

AU - Bochud, Murielle

AU - Candiani, Giulia

AU - Carmeli, Cristian

AU - Carra, Luca

AU - Castagne, Raphaele

AU - Chadeau-Hyam, Marc

AU - Cima, Sergio

AU - Costa, Giuseppe

AU - Courtin, Emilie

AU - Delpierre, Cyrille

AU - D'Errico, Angelo

AU - Donkin, Angela

AU - Dugué, Pierre Antoine

AU - Elliott, Paul

AU - Fagherazzi, Guy

AU - Fiorito, Giovanni

AU - Gandini, Martina

AU - Gares, Valérie

AU - Gerbouin-Rerrolle, Pascale

AU - Giles, Graham

AU - Goldberg, Marcel

AU - Greco, Dario

AU - Guida, Florence

AU - Hodge, Allison

AU - Karimi, Maryam

AU - Karisola, Piia

AU - Kelly, Michelle

AU - Kivimaki, Mika

AU - Laine, Jessica

AU - Lang, Thierry

AU - Laurent, Audrey

AU - Lepage, Benoit

AU - Lorsch, Dori

AU - Machell, Giles

AU - Mackenbach, Johan

AU - Marmot, Michael

AU - Milne, Roger

AU - the LIFEPATH consortium

N1 - Funding Information: Cathal McCrory is supported by the Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland under an Emerging Investigator Award (EIA‐2017‐012). This work was also supported by the Lifepath grant to Paolo Vineis at Imperial College London (European Commission H2020, Grant number: 633666). Funding Information: Funding information Cathal McCrory is supported by the Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland under an Emerging Investigator Award (EIA-2017-012). This work was also supported by the Lifepath grant to Paolo Vineis at Imperial College London (European Commission H2020, Grant number: 633666). Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) has been funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in association with the central statistics office and the Department of Social Protection (DSP). These data have been collected in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1993. The DCYA, CSO and DSP take no responsibility for the views expressed or the outputs generated from the research undertaken. The project has been designed and implemented by the joint ESRI-TCD Growing Up in Ireland Study Team. The GUI data sets are freely available to researchers via the Irish Social Sciences Data Archive (https://www.ucd.ie/issda). The Millennium Cohort Study is conducted by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the Institute of Education, University of London. Data from the MCS surveys are held and distributed by the UK Data Service (http://ukdataservice.ac.uk) and are freely available to researchers under standard conditions. Neither CLS nor the UK Data Service bear any responsibility for the analysis or interpretation of these data. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the families enrolled in Generation XXI, Growing Up in Ireland and the Millennium Cohort Study, as well as the members of the respective research teams, hospitals and staff (G21) responsible for the collection and provision of data used in this paper. Funding Information: Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) has been funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in association with the central statistics office and the Department of Social Protection (DSP). These data have been col‐ lected in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1993. The DCYA, CSO and DSP take no responsibility for the views expressed or the out‐ puts generated from the research undertaken. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - Background: Social inequalities in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity are well-established, but less is known about when the social gradient first emerges and how it evolves across childhood and adolescence. Objective: This study examines maternal education differentials in children's body mass trajectories in infancy, childhood and adolescence using data from four contemporary European child cohorts. Methods: Prospective data on children's body mass index (BMI) were obtained from four cohort studies—Generation XXI (G21—Portugal), Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) infant and child cohorts, and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS—UK)—involving a total sample of 41,399 children and 120,140 observations. Children's BMI trajectories were modelled by maternal education level using mixed-effect models. Results: Maternal educational inequalities in children's BMI were evident as early as three years of age. Children from lower maternal educational backgrounds were characterised by accelerated BMI growth, and the extent of the disparity was such that boys from primary-educated backgrounds measured 0.42 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.24, 0.60) heavier at 7 years of age in G21, 0.90 kg/m2(95% CI 0.60, 1.19) heavier at 13 years of age in GUI and 0.75 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.52, 0.97) heavier in MCS at 14 years of age. The corresponding figures for girls were 0.71 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.50, 0.91), 1.31 kg/m2 (95% CI 1.00, 1.62) and 0.76 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.53, 1.00) in G21, GUI and MCS, respectively. Conclusions: Maternal education is a strong predictor of BMI across European nations. Socio-economic differentials emerge early and widen across childhood, highlighting the need for early intervention.

AB - Background: Social inequalities in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity are well-established, but less is known about when the social gradient first emerges and how it evolves across childhood and adolescence. Objective: This study examines maternal education differentials in children's body mass trajectories in infancy, childhood and adolescence using data from four contemporary European child cohorts. Methods: Prospective data on children's body mass index (BMI) were obtained from four cohort studies—Generation XXI (G21—Portugal), Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) infant and child cohorts, and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS—UK)—involving a total sample of 41,399 children and 120,140 observations. Children's BMI trajectories were modelled by maternal education level using mixed-effect models. Results: Maternal educational inequalities in children's BMI were evident as early as three years of age. Children from lower maternal educational backgrounds were characterised by accelerated BMI growth, and the extent of the disparity was such that boys from primary-educated backgrounds measured 0.42 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.24, 0.60) heavier at 7 years of age in G21, 0.90 kg/m2(95% CI 0.60, 1.19) heavier at 13 years of age in GUI and 0.75 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.52, 0.97) heavier in MCS at 14 years of age. The corresponding figures for girls were 0.71 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.50, 0.91), 1.31 kg/m2 (95% CI 1.00, 1.62) and 0.76 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.53, 1.00) in G21, GUI and MCS, respectively. Conclusions: Maternal education is a strong predictor of BMI across European nations. Socio-economic differentials emerge early and widen across childhood, highlighting the need for early intervention.

KW - body mass index

KW - children

KW - cohort study

KW - growth curves

KW - obesity

KW - overweight

KW - social inequalities

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065983715&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/ppe.12552

DO - 10.1111/ppe.12552

M3 - Article

C2 - 31090081

AN - SCOPUS:85065983715

SN - 0269-5022

VL - 33

SP - 226

EP - 237

JO - Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology

JF - Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology

IS - 3

ER -

Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries

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