The impact of maternal bariatric surgery on long-term health of offspring: a scoping review

While pregnancy post-bariatric surgery has become increasingly common, little is known about whether and how maternal bariatric surgery affects the next generation. This scoping review aimed to collate available evidence about the long-term health of offspring following maternal bariatric surgery. A literature search was conducted using three databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE) to obtain relevant human and animal studies. A total of 26 studies were included: 17 were ancillary reports from five “primary” studies (three human, two animal studies) and the remaining nine were “independent” studies (eight human, one animal studies). The human studies adopted sibling-comparison, case-control, and single-group descriptive designs. Despite limited data and inconsistent results across studies, findings suggested that maternal bariatric surgery appeared to (1) modify epigenetics (especially genes involved in immune, glucose, and obesity regulation); (2) alter weight status (unclear direction of alteration); (3) impair cardiometabolic, immune, inflammatory, and appetite regulation markers (primarily based on animal studies); and (4) not affect the neurodevelopment in offspring. In conclusion, this review supports that maternal bariatric surgery has an effect on the health of offspring. However, the scarcity of studies and heterogenous findings highlight that more research is required to determine the scope and degree of such effects. Impact There is evidence that bariatric surgery modifies epigenetics in offspring, especially genes involved in immune, glucose, and obesity regulation. Bariatric surgery appears to alter weight status in offspring, although the direction of alteration is unclear. There is preliminary evidence that bariatric surgery impairs offspring’s cardiometabolic, immune, inflammatory, and appetite regulation markers. Therefore, extra care may be needed to ensure optimal growth in children born to mothers with previous bariatric surgery.