Estimates slightly attenuated, but directionally consistent, after exclusion of mothers with depression\/anxiety<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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TUESDAY, Dec. 9, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Prepregnancy eating disorders (EDs) are associated with an increased risk for preschool wheezing and school-aged asthma in offspring, according to a study published online Dec. 2 in Thorax<\/em>.<\/p>\n Maja Popovic, Ph.D., from the University of Turin in Italy, and colleagues examined the associations between maternal EDs and respiratory outcomes among offspring using data from 131,495 mother-child pairs across seven cohorts from the European Union Child Cohort Network. Associations between maternal prepregnancy EDs and preschool wheezing and school-age asthma were assessed in the primary analyses.<\/p>\n The prevalence of prepregnancy EDs varied from 0.8 percent (health records) to 17.0 percent (self-reported lifetime EDs). The prevalence of preschool wheezing varied from 20.7 to 49.6 percent, while school-age asthma prevalence ranged from 2.1 to 17.3 percent. The researchers observed associations for prepregnancy EDs with preschool wheezing and school-age asthma (odds ratio, 1.25 and 1.26, respectively). After exclusion of mothers with depression\/anxiety, these estimates were slightly attenuated but remained directionally consistent with the main analyses. A weak positive association was seen with lung function. Across ED subtypes, the associations were largely consistent; no clear pattern was seen by timing of exposure.<\/p>\n “The analyses on lung function add some caution in the interpretation of the results, as potential bias mechanisms, such as maternal overreporting of child respiratory outcomes or attrition in follow-up, might have influenced these findings,” the authors write.<\/p>\n