C-sections tied to child obesity

[bananas]

Source: Reuters

More babies born via cesarean section grow up to be heavy kids and teens than those delivered vaginally, according to a new study of more than 10,000 UK infants.

Eleven-year-olds delivered by C-section, for example, were 83 percent more likely to be overweight or obese than their vaginally-born peers once other related factors - such as their mother's weight and how long they were breastfed - were taken into account.

The findings are in line with a recent review of nine earlier studies that also found a link between C-sections and childhood obesity (see Reuters Health story of December 12, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/TV6GwC ).

With C-sections, "there may be long-term consequences to children that we don't know about," said Dr. Jan Blustein, who led the new study at the New York University School of Medicine.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/24/us-c-sections-tied-to-child-obesity-idUSBRE94N0NS20130524

[AtheistCrusader]

1. AH-HA

VINDICATION.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Weird.

At first I thought that it would make sense because overweight women would be more likely to have C-sections and then raise their kids in an environment that leads to obesity, but it sounds like they adjusted for that.

[Mass]

3. Blustein said studies haven't been able to prove whether C-section, itself, is a reason some babies

Blustein said studies haven't been able to prove whether C-section, itself, is a reason some babies tend to gain more weight.


"The other possibilities are (that) these are children that would have been heavier anyway," Blustein said.

"Being heavy as a woman is a risk factor for C-section, so that's the problem with trying to figure out whether this is real or if it's simply a matter of selection," since overweight parents are more likely to have overweight children.

So, basically, they have no idea if it is a statistical fluke, some causation (like mothers with diabetis tend to have more CSection), or if there is a link of cause and effect between C-Section and obesity, but our brilliant media will take a complex problem and make it look like it is simple,.

[ileus]

4. two C-section kids here, zero are obese.

[Elmergantry]

5. Vaginal here; and Im fat as a whale NT..

[tblue]

9. Same here, for my one kid.

He was breech so I had no choice.

[laundry_queen]

17. I have 4 kids - 3 c-sections 1 VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)

My pudgiest kid is the VBAC (she was baby #2). The others are all very skinny.

I think it's more genetics - the one that is pudgy has been that way since she was a baby. Even though all my kids were exclusively breastfed with no solids until 6 months, my vbac child at 6 months outweighed them by quite a bit (despite being the one that breastfed the least - she was the mythical 'every 4 hours' child, the others ate every 1-2 hours). She's now my most active child, and the one who is picky with food and she eats the least out of any of them - but she's definitely the largest. Purely genetics in this case.

There is several theories that actually tie into this - they recently discovered that children who had the most exposure to antibiotics were also the ones who were the heaviest. The theory with C-sections is that the babies don't benefit from bacteria present in the vaginal canal. It seems that bacteria in the gut may have something to do with obesity - this also ties in with breastfed babies having lower incidence of obesity - breast milk promotes beneficial bacteria in the gut. There you go big pharma - there's an avenue to consider - find the right probiotic strain that fights obesity and patent it - record profits instantly! lol.

[sakabatou]

6. Is this just correlation or is it causation? There's a difference.

[Posteritatis]

13. "Linked to" in science journalism[sic] is pretty much always correlation

Sometimes it's not even that.

[Brickbat]

7. "Tied to" = correlation.

But no causation.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. We'll get a bunch of "Well I'm a vaginal/C-section birth" blah blah blah posts here

most of which will misunderstand causality and correlation and science in general.

"Well my kids were c-section kids and they're not obese so there!"

OK, great. Now, deal with the actual consequences of the study's findings: there probably is some relationship between opting for c-sections and subsequent diet for the most part. Deal with it. Can it result in actual good practices, like advising c-section parents on diet? Like longitudinal studies that can result in better health results for actual humans?

Ultimately,people that do this kind of science and public health are the serious people, the people who actually care about others and the world, and the people who do the whole "Well my kids...blah blah blah" routine haven't really accomplished very much. Even for their own kids.

[frazzled]

10. Women don't "opt" for C-sections

Or 99% don't. When a C-Section is deemed necessary by an obstetrician, it's because the vaginal delivery isn't possible.

So if you can't even understand that basic fact underlying this issue, don't go giving lectures about correlation and causation. It doesn't sound as if you understand those concepts either.

[michigandem58]

21. My wife was given the option for our last two

It's quite often a choice.

[Arcanetrance]

22. It really isn't that simple of diet for example my mother is only 4'6 and I like most males

in my family was large at birth and still large I'm built like a wall. The doc basically told my mom I'd kill her and maybe me trying to give birth vaginally

[Zoeisright]

11. That is strange.

What could possibly be the cause? Not having to fight your way through the birth canal? I don't get it, especially since they already controlled for the mother's weight.

[LeftInTX]

14. Here's an interesting factual:

And the fighting your way through is an analogy:

Pushing tends to push more fluid out of the infant's lungs.
Vaginal births tend to be more alert because of the above.
Because of both of the above, vaginal births tend to better breast feeders at birth. Therefore more vaginal births are breast fed while C-Sections may give up because the baby isn't taking to the breast.
Bottle fed infants tend to take in more calories than breastfed infants.

Breastfeeding requires more work on the infant's part hence bottle fed infants tend to take in more calories.

Now what was this about C-Sections???

[Danmel]

23. I had 2 c-sectioms

the first after 22 hours of labor in which I had gotten to 5 centimeters. I just was not progressing at all. My daughter was nursed exclusively for 8 months.
the second after a 38 week sono indicated that the baby was going to weigh 10=11 pounds. ( no gestational diabetes and i am 5 feet talll and not heavy.) he was 7-11 (big head) but when I was sectioned, the cord was wrapped around his neck, torso and leg. Had be descended in labor, he might have died or had brain damage. I developed an incisional infection and had to be re=hospitalized for 6 nights. The whole time, I pumped milk so that I would be able to nurse him when I was better, which I did for 6 months exclusively. So I am really not convinced that c-section babies cant be successfully nursed.

[KurtNYC]

25. I don't see where they controlled for income or access to health care or immigration/origin

Some people have their babies outside of a hospital setting and I have to think that almost none of those are by c-section.

There may be no cause involved here, only correlation.

[kickysnana]

12. Wow, more big babies are delivered caesarian. A shocker...not.

How about we let the doctor and the mother decide these things at the time rather than by a committee of unqualified strangers on DU?

That is all.

[fugop]

20. Yep, that was my thought

Assuming bigger babies may require delivery by c-section, then I'd expect they might be more likely to be bigger children/adults as well.

[renate]

15. I've read elsewhere that it's because vaginally delivered babies get a dose...

... of their mom's vaginal bacteria, which would closely resemble the gut bacteria. If obesity is a risk factor for a C-section, and if the research indicating that gut bacteria influence body weight is correct, it would make sense that the children of leaner women who give their kids a dose of their bacteria during labor would grow up to be leaner too.

Anecdotally, my son was delivered while I was on IV antibiotics because my doctor was way ahead of her time and routinely did a vaginal strep B culture while I was still pregnant. (I don't know whether it's routine now, but if not... soon after he was born I watched a TV program about babies who got a strep B infection during delivery, and I'll just say that although complications are very rare it's worth considering for pregnant women to ask their doctors about it.)

So my son didn't get any of my vaginal bacteria when he was born but he's as skinny as a rail, as is my daughter who was delivered vaginally without antibiotics. If the bacterial exposure hypothesis is true, the two of them are a good example of how anecdotes don't equal data.

[dipsydoodle]

16. My daughter was born by Ceasarian

At birth she was 10lbs and she was 24" long. She's now 43 years old, weighs 8.5 stone and is 5 foot exactly - 2.5 times her birth length

[mainer]

18. Related to difference in intestinal biome?

This was mentioned in Michael Pollan's recent article in NYT about children who are vaginally born inheriting their mothers' intestinal bacteria. A child born by sterile C-section doesn't get inoculated by Mom's helpful bacteria, without which a child can tend toward to obesity.

[Sunlei]

19. interesting point. could also be the 'shock' of c-section delivery, it's fast. PTS, I read...

everyone who had surgery as an infant 23 years ago or more (hundreds of thousands of infants had surgery for birth defects.) don't remember the surgery. However not to long ago- Doctors used no anesthesia for infants, just a drug that paralyzed the infant.

I read that many people who went through this have a type of PTS disorder and several other types of mental heath problems, eating disorders.

[Chakab]

24. I was delivered via C-section, and I had a serious weight problem as a kid

and into college. Then I started eating properly and working out. Weight problem solved.