Lower iron levels seen in newborns of obese mothers

ScienceDaily (July 9, 2012) — A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb. New research from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and The Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center suggests that low iron status is among these health problems, according to an analysis of maternal hepcidin, a hormone that is key in keeping iron levels balanced.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityPregnancy and ChildbirthDiet and Weight LossFolic AcidDiseases and ConditionsAnemiaReferenceNutrition and pregnancyBody mass indexMaternal bondFood groups

The study enrolled 15 obese pregnant women with body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 and 15 healthy weight pregnant women with BMIs between 20 and 25 as a control group. Maternal blood draws took place during the second trimester of pregnancy and newborn iron status was measured in cord blood.

The researchers found that being born to an obese mother with elevated hepcidin levels was associated with lower iron status at birth. Obese adults are known to produce higher levels of hepcidin compared to healthy weight adults and the researchers suggest that overproduction of the hormone interferes with the transfer of iron from mother to infant. The results were recently published online by the Journal of Perinatology.

During pregnancy, hepcidin levels are kept at low levels to optimize iron transfer from mother to fetus. "When there is excess hepcidin in a cell, it binds to and inhibits the function of ferroportin, the protein that allows iron to pass through the cell membrane and into the bloodstream," explained senior author Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, PhD, director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA).

"The chronic low-grade inflammation that can result from being obese triggers an abnormal immune response, increasing production of proteins that increase hepcidin levels," added Maria Carlota Dao, first author and a doctoral student in the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA.

Because iron plays a crucial role in the formation of the central nervous system, children born with iron deficiency are at a greater risk for delays in motor and cognitive development.

"The data on the impact of low maternal iron levels on the fetus comes from undernourished populations," said first author Sarbattama Sen, MD, a neonatologist at Tufts Medical Center and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). "To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first study to demonstrate that obesity might hamper iron transfer from mother to child and offers some insight into the mechanism of how it occurs. Future studies, however, are needed to confirm the role of obesity associated with inflammation during pregnancy on hepcidin and iron status of the newborn."

The authors further stress that more research is needed before any changes to dietary guidelines or recommendations to obese pregnant women should be considered. Most prenatal vitamin supplements contain 27 milligrams of iron, the daily amount currently recommended by The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

"During pregnancy, women should try to eat a varied, healthy diet while taking the standard prenatal vitamins recommended by their doctors," Sen adds. "Weight gain goals should be based on a woman's BMI prior to becoming pregnant. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine issued new guidelines on weight gain during pregnancy."

Simin Nikbin Meydani is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and is a member of the immunology program faculty at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. Additional authors of this study are Chitra Iyer, MD, a former maternal fetal medicine fellow at Tufts Medical Center and David Klebenov, a TUSM student. .

The authors received funding for this study from the USDA, a Tufts Medical Center Research Grant, the Natalie V. Zucker Foundation for Women Scholars, the Stanley N. Gershoff Scholarship and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) T32 training program.

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Low-Income Mothers May Overfeed Their Infants

HealthDay – 1 hr 59 mins ago SATURDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- Poor mothers who are single or who have depression are more likely to overfeed their infants by adding cereal to baby bottles, a practice that can lead to excess weight gain in infants, a new study reveals.

For the study, U.S. researchers examined data from 254 mothers of infants in low-income, primarily Hispanic households and found that 24 percent of the mothers put cereal in baby bottles. Those with depression were 15 times more likely to do so than those without depression.

"Depression is very common in low-income mothers and makes it more difficult to engage in beneficial parenting practices in general," lead author and general academic pediatrics fellow Dr. Candice Taylor Lucas, an associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City, said in an American Academy of Pediatrics news release.

"Our results are especially concerning because they suggest that depressed mothers may be more likely to add cereal to the bottle, which may increase their children's risk of obesity," Lucas added.

The researchers also found that single mothers were much more likely to add cereal to bottles, along with mothers who felt their children had intense emotional reactions to daily routines.

"Overall, these findings demonstrate that stressors prevalent in low-income households, such as depression, single parenthood and associated infant behavioral challenges, influence feeding practices likely to promote obesity," Lucas concluded. "It is important to provide support for parents related to healthy feeding practices if we are to end the epidemic of childhood obesity."

The study was slated for presentation Saturday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Boston. The data and conclusions of research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has more about infant nutrition.

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