[Study of the association of prenatal barium exposure and advancement of the adiposity rebound phase in children].

The detection rate of adiposity rebound phase advancement was high across all children in the cohort.

• Detection rates of adiposity rebound phase advancement were 87.42% for all children, 86.58% for boys, and 88.30% for girls.
• The study included 2,718 mother-child pairs from the Ma'anshan Birth Cohort.
• BMI was measured at 16 time points from 42 days to 7 years of age.
• A fractional polynomial mixed-effects model was used to fit children's BMI trajectories and determine timing of adiposity rebound.

First trimester barium exposure was statistically associated with advancement of adiposity rebound in all children after adjusting for confounders.

• Binary logistic regression revealed OR=1.20 (95% CI: 1.03–1.40) for all children.
• Serum barium concentrations were measured in peripheral venous blood from pregnant women and umbilical cord blood from newborns.
• Confounders were adjusted for in the binary logistic regression models.
• No statistically significant association was found for second or third trimester barium exposure (only first trimester was reported as significant).

The association between first trimester barium exposure and advancement of adiposity rebound was significant in boys but not in girls.

• For boys, OR=1.30 (95% CI: 1.06–1.58) after adjusting for confounders.
• No similar association was found in girls.
• The multiplicative interaction between prenatal barium exposure and child sex on adiposity rebound advancement was not statistically significant.
• Authors cautioned that sex-specific differences need to be interpreted with caution given the non-significant interaction term.

The multiplicative interaction between prenatal barium exposure and child sex did not have a significant effect on the advancement of the adiposity rebound phase.

• A multiplicative model was applied to analyze the interaction between prenatal barium exposure and child sex.
• The interaction term was not statistically significant.
• Despite the apparent sex difference in point estimates, the interaction analysis did not confirm a statistically significant sex-modifying effect.
• Authors stated that 'sex-specific differences in children need to be interpreted with caution.'