Postnatal exposure to ambient temperature and rapid weight gain among infants delivered at term gestations: a population-based cohort study

Author: Carlos Francisco Dionicio López, Neora Alterman, Ronit Calderon-Margalit, Michael Hauzer, Itai Kloog, Raanan Raz

Year: 2022

Published in: Special Issue: Climate Change and Reproductive, Perinatal, and Paediatric Health

The global prevalence of childhood obesity has risen dramatically recently. Previous studies found an association between rapid infant weight gain and childhood overweight. Evidence suggests that exposure to high ambient air temperatures during prenatal life and during adulthood is associated with birthweight and obesity respectively.

Conclusions: Exposure to higher ambient temperatures, of emerging importance in the climate change era, is associated with rapid infant weight gain in Israel. Future studies should use additional exposure, covariate, and outcome data to analyse the nature and the source of this association in more detail.