Grantee Research Project Results
Environmental Exposures, Stress, and Maternal Pregnancy-Related Weight Outcomes
EPA Grant Number: R836158C002Subproject: this is subproject number 002 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R836158
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Southern California Children's Environmental Health Center
Center Director: McConnell, Rob Scot
Title: Environmental Exposures, Stress, and Maternal Pregnancy-Related Weight Outcomes
Investigators: Dunton, Genevieve Frilund , Grubbs, Brendan H. , Eckel, Sandrah
Institution: University of Southern California
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2020
RFA: NIH/EPA Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research (2015) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health
Objective:
The objective of this project is to examine the effects of multiple pre- and post-partum environmental exposures to air and other chemical pollutants on maternal gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention.
Approach:
This project will examine the effects of multiple pre- and pos-tpartum environmental exposures to air and other chemical pollutants on maternal gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention. Investigators will develop a novel conceptual model whereby pre-and postpartum environmental exposures, coupled with exposures to social stressors, lead to excessive maternal gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention through altered psychological and behavioral responses. Investigators will test this model in a longitudinal study of 750 primarily Hispanic, low-income pregnant women who will undergo assessments of environmental exposures (e.g., regional NO2, PM2.5 O3; near-roadway NOx; water contaminants; toxic releases), social stressors (e.g., neighborhood crime, violence, income inequality), psychological (e.g., perceived stress and salivary cortisol) and behavioral (e.g., physical activity and diet) responses, and weight outcomes during pregnancy (1st, 2nd, 3rd trimesters) and postpartum (3, 6, 12 months). In a subset of women (n = 60), investigators will use innovative personal, real-time data capture strategies (e.g., ecological momentary assessment, personal exposure sampling, location monitoring, accelerometry) to examine day-level effects of exposures on psychological stress and energy-balance behaviors. The hypotheses are that (1) greater cumulative pre- and postpartum environmental exposures will be associated with an increased likelihood of excessive gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention, respectively; (2) exposures occurring during the first trimester of pregnancy will have larger effects on maternal gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention; (3) effects will be larger in women with greater social stressors, (4) psychological and behavioral responses will mediate these effects; and (5) on any given day, greater personal environmental exposures and social stressors will be associated with greater perceived stress and cortisol, lower physical activity, and unhealthy dietary intake. Results will identify key mechanistic targets for policy, clinical, and programmatic intervention. Given the serious long-term health consequences of excessive gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention for both mothers and children, this study could have broad-reaching public health impacts.
Rationale:
Increasing rates of maternal overweight and obesity before, during and after pregnancy pose serious health concerns for both mothers and children. Beyond diet, physical activity, and genetics, a growing body of evidence implicates the role of environmental exposures in contributing to obesity and related metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. However, there is a lack of research on the etiological role of environmental exposures in maternal gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention. The burden of exposures to multiple environmental chemicals, many of which are obesogenic, is disproportionately carried by Hispanics in California. These data highlight a striking environmental and health disparity affecting Hispanics that is not well understood.
Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R836158 Southern California Children's Environmental Health Center Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R836158C001 Cumulative prenatal and infant environmental exposures and early childhood obesity risk
R836158C002 Environmental Exposures, Stress, and Maternal Pregnancy-Related Weight Outcomes
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.