Longitudinal effect of prenatal polydrug use and birthweight status on pediatric growth

ABSTRACT Maternal drug use causes low birthweight but less is known about longer-term pediatric growth. The purpose of this analysis was to longitudinally measure anthropometric growth among children exposed to drugs in utero. We used data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded Maternal Lifestyle Study (MLS). Mixed effects piecewise regression longitudinally assessed BMI percentile from 2–16 years. Those born low birthweight prenatally exposed to poly tobacco/opioid use had lower pediatric BMI percentiles than those unexposed from 2–16 years. Specific combinations of drug use appear to delay or accelerate growth across childhood at different points for those born low birthweight.