Altered fetal growth is known to be associated with allergic disease. Specifically, increased head circumference at birth has been linked to asthma and elevated IgE. However, few studies have examined a link between early fetal anthropometry and allergic disease. The aim of this study was to examine head circumference at mid-gestation in children diagnosed with allergy.
This was a retrospective cohort study, comprising pregnancies delivered between 10/2006 and 9/2010 at Nepean Hospital, Australia. Exclusion criteria were illegal drug use, alcohol consumption, gestation <35 weeks, and gestational hypertension. Pregnancy data were sourced from the Nepean Obstetric Database. Atopic diseases (asthma, atopic dermatitis, and IgE-mediated food allergy) were assessed by questionnaire at age 1–5 years. Infants from pregnancies with completed questionnaires, who also had a mid-gestation ultrasound scan, were included (
Smaller head circumference at mid-gestation was associated with increased odds of allergic disease in children aged 1–5 years. A 1 mm smaller head circumference was associated with a 7% increased chance of allergies being later diagnosed, adjusted for gestation (95% CI: 1–14%,
Smaller mid-gestational head circumference is associated with early childhood allergic disease, which suggests that fetal programing of allergic disease occurs before mid-gestation. This suggests that mediators such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor may be dysregulated early