Prenatal Exposure to Cadmium and Child Growth, Obesity and Cardiometabolic Traits

Abstract

Prenatal cadmium exposure has been associated with impaired fetal growth, much less is known about the impact during later childhood on growth and cardiometabolic traits. To elucidate the impact of prenatal cadmium exposure on child growth, adiposity and cardiometabolic traits in 515 mother-child pairs in the "Rhea" cohort (Heraklion-Greece, 2007–2012), we measured urinary cadmium concentrations during early pregnancy, and assessed associations with repeated weight and height measurements from birth through childhood, and waist circumference, skinfold thicknesses, blood pressure, serum levels of lipids, leptin, and C-reactive protein at 4-years. Adjusted regression and mixed models were used, with interactions term for child sex and maternal smoking added. Elevated prenatal cadmium levels [third vs. first and second tertile of urinary cadmium (μg/L)] were significantly associated with slower weight trajectory (per standard deviation score) in all children (β; 95% confidence interval: −0.17; −0.32, −0.02), and slower height trajectory in girls (−0.30; −0.5,−0.09, P_interaction = 0.025) and in children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy (−0.48; −0.83, −1.13, P_interaction = 0.027). To conclude, prenatal cadmium exposure was associated with delayed growth in early childhood. Further research is needed to understand cadmium-related sex differences and the role of co-exposure to maternal smoking during early pregnancy.