Journal of developmental origins of health and disease
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J Dev Orig Health Dis · Apr 2017
Childhood body mass index at 5.5 years mediates the effect of prenatal maternal stress on daughters' age at menarche: Project Ice Storm.
Early pubertal timing is known to put women at greater risk for adverse physiological and psychological health outcomes. Of the factors that influence girls' pubertal timing, stress experienced during childhood has been found to advance age at menarche (AAM). However, it is not known if stress experienced by mothers during or in the months before conception can be similarly associated with earlier pubertal timing. ⋯ Results revealed that greater BMI at 5.5 years mediated the effect of PNMS on decreasing AAM [B=-0.059, 95% confidence intervals (-0.18, -0.0035)]. The present study is the first to demonstrate that maternal experience of stressful conditions during pregnancy reduces AAM in the offspring through its effects on childhood BMI. Future research should consider the impact of AAM on other measures of reproductive ability.