Abstract
Introduction: Pre-pregnancy obesity has been linked to emotional and behavioural problems in offspring, though it remains unclear when the presence of these difficulties first emerges.
 Method: We examined the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and temperament at 3 months of age in the offspring of 16 women residing in Hamilton, Ontario. Infant temperament was measured using the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire Revised, which specifically examined surgency/extraversion, negative affectivity, and orienting/regulation.
 Results: A statistically significant association was observed between maternal BMI and infant negative affectivity (B=0.05, 95% CI=0.01-0.08), which remained significant after adjusting for confounding variables (B=0.04, 95% CI=0.01-0.08).
 Conclusion: The current study provides evidence that fetal exposure to high maternal BMI during pregnancy is associated with increased negative affectivity in infants at 3 months of age. The results suggest that the intrauterine environment associated with high maternal BMI may influence temperament at a very early stage in development.
Highlights
Pre-pregnancy obesity has been linked to emotional and behavioural problems in offspring, though it remains unclear when the presence of these difficulties first emerges
Maternal adiposity is associated with a range of complications in infants including macrosomia and fetal distress.[2]
We examined two statistical models, the first examining bivariate associations between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and Infant Behaviour Questionnaire Revised (IBQ-R) scales and the second adjusted for known confounding variables (infant sex, maternal socioeconomic status (SES), lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD), and smoking during pregnancy)
Summary
Pre-pregnancy obesity has been linked to emotional and behavioural problems in offspring, though it remains unclear when the presence of these difficulties first emerges. Infant temperament was reported by the mother and measured using the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire Revised (IBQ-R).[16] The IBQ-R is a 191-item scale comprised of three major subscales: surgency/extraversion, negative affectivity, and orienting/ regulation.
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