Participants in Project Ice Storm, who experienced high levels of objective prenatal stress, may have children with an increased risk of childhood obesity at 5 ½ years of age.
*Objective prenatal stress - measured by the number of days the participant went without electricity, the total financial loss as a result of the disaster, how long the family had to stay away from home, etc.
- Dancause, K.N., Veru, F., Andersen, R.E., Laplante, D.P., & King, S. (2013). Prenatal stress due to a natural disaster predicts insulin secretion in adolescence. Early Human Development, 89, 773-776.
- Dancause K.N., Laplante D.P., Fraser S., Brunet A., Ciampi A., Schmitz N., King S. (2012). Prenatal exposure to a natural disaster increases risk for obesity in 5½ year old children. Pediatric Research, 71(1), 126-31.