Association of maternal exposure to endocrine disruptor chemicals with cardio-metabolic risk factors in children during childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, the association of maternal exposure to the endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with cardio-metabolic risk factors in children during childhood for the first time.

The PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched, up to Feb 2023. In total 30 cohort studies had our inclusion criteria. A random-effects model was used for the variables that had considerable heterogeneity between studies. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) tool was used to classify the quality score of studies. All statistical analyses were conducted using Stata 14 and P-value < 0.05 considered as a significant level.

In the meta-analysis, maternal exposure to the EDCs was weakly associated with higher SBP (Fisher_Z: 0.06, CI: 0.04, 0.08), BMI (Fisher_Z: 0.07, CI: 0.06, 0.08), and WC (Fisher_Z: 0.06, CI: 0.03, 0.08) z-scores in children. A significant linear association was found between maternal exposure to the bisphenol-A and pesticides with BMI and WC z-score in children (p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed significant linear association of BPA and pesticides, in the urine samples of mothers at the first trimester of pregnancy, with BMI and WC z-score in children from 2–8 years (p < 0.05).

Prenatal exposure to the EDCs in the uterine period could increase the risk of obesity in children. Maternal exposure to bisphenol-A and pesticides showed the strongest association with the obesity, especially visceral form, in the next generation.