Lower birth weight and increased body fat at school age in children prenatally exposed to modern pesticides: a prospective study

Table 4 Results from multiple linear regression analysis† for birth outcomes and relevant covariates

Covariates in model	Weight for gestational age (%)	Birth weight (g)	Birth length (cm)	Body mass index (kg/m²)	Ponderal index (kg/m³)
Gestational age (days)	-------	27(22; 32)*	0.1(0.1; 0.1) *	0.05(0.03; 0.06) *	0.04(0.01; 0.07)*
Female gender	-------	-132(-247; -18) *	-0.8(-1.4; -0.3)*	-0.1(-0.4; 0.2)	0.3(-0.3; 0.9)
Maternal smoking in pregnancy < 10 cigarettes	-2.2(-7.0; 2.6)	-77(-251; -97)	-0.3(-1.0; -0.5)	-0.2(-0.6; 0.2)	-0.3(-1.2; 0.6)
Maternal smoking in pregnancy ≥ 10 cigarettes	-6.0(-10.3; -1.6) *	-213(-372; -54) *	-0.7(-1.0; -0.0) *	-0.4(-0.8; -0.0)*	-0.5(-1.3; 0.3)
Prenatal pesticide exposure medium	-3.6(-7.2; -0.0) *	-139(-272; -6) *	-0.3(-1.0; 0.3)	-0.2(-0.6; 0.1)	-0.3(-1.0; 0.4)
Prenatal pesticide exposure high	-4.8(-9.0; -0.7) *	-173(-322; -23) *	-0.4(-1.0; 0.3)	-0.4(-0.8; -0.0) *	-0.7(-1.4; 0.1)

* p < 0.05. † n = 236 (247-11 children from multiple pregnancies). Results are expressed as mean differences (95%-CI)
Example: Birth weight is 173 g lower in highly exposed children compared to unexposed, when correcting for gestational age, female gender and maternal smoking level in pregnancy

ISSN: 1476-069X