Maternal pre‐pregnancy obesity and risk for inattention and negative emotionality in children

Despite discrepancies between maternal and teacher reports, these results provide further evidence that maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity are associated with child inattention symptoms and extend previous work by establishing a link between obesity and emotional difficulties. Maternal adiposity at the time of conception may be instrumental in programming child mental health, as prenatal brain development depends on maternal energy supply. Possible mechanisms include disturbed maternal metabolic function. If maternal pre-pregnancy obesity is a causal risk factor, the potential for prevention is great.