ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1648996
This article is part of the Research TopicInvestigating the Roles of Nutritional Determinants, Genetic Predispositions, and Environmental Risk Factors in the development of Obesity and Associated Metabolic DisordersView all 5 articles
Maternal obesity phenotype, metabolic dysfunction, and preterm birth: A prospective birth cohort study
Provisionally accepted
Jiayi Chen1Yecheng Miao2Qingxiu Li1
Qian Zhang3
Sun Bin1Zhengqin Wu1Wenjuan Liu4Junwei Liu1Huimin Shi1
Haiyan Gao1Wei Li1
Yibing Zhu1*
Haibo Li1*- 1Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, College of Clinical Medicine for Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
- 2Ningxia Medical University School of Clinical Medicine, Yinchuan, China
- 3Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
- 4Fujian Children's Hospital, Fuzhou, China
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Introduction The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between metabolic obesity phenotypes and preterm birth (PTB) as well as the impact of obesity and metabolic abnormalities on PTB. Methods 20,259 pregnant singleton women participated in prospective birth cohort research conducted in China. Obesity metabolic phenotypes were categorized using pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and metabolic state. Any delivery before 37 full weeks of gestation, as determined by the best obstetric estimate available, was considered PTB. Results As the number of metabolically unfavorable components grows, so does the risk of developing PTB. Compared to women with a metabolically healthy normal weight, those who are normal weight and overweight (including obese) with metabolically unwell had an increased chance of having PTB (adjusted OR: 1.33 and 1.62, respectively). Additionally, additive interaction analysis revealed a significant interaction between overweight and metabolic unhealthiness for PTB risk (RERI = 0.41, AP = 0.24, SI = 2.22). People who are overweight and metabolically unwell have a 0.41 relative excess risk (which accounts for 24%) of PTB, and their combined risk is 2.22 times higher than that of those who are exposed to either risk alone. Conclusion PTB risks are increased by metabolic abnormalities and overweight (including obese), and there are notable interaction effects between metabolic abnormalities and overweight (including obese) and PTB.
Keywords: obesity metabolic phenotypes, Metabolism, Preterm Birth, prospective cohort research, Interaction Analysis
Received: 18 Jun 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Miao, Li, Zhang, Bin, Wu, Liu, Liu, Shi, Gao, Li, Zhu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yibing Zhu, zybfmc@163.com
Haibo Li, haiboli89@163.com
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