BACKGROUND: Family size and high birth order were related to the prevalence of @entity2023 and positive skin prick test. However, this association may be explained by maternal atopy. We examined the relationship between maternal atopy and the number of offspring in three European cohorts of pregnant @entity1 . METHODS: The mothers and their @entity1 (n = 1487) were recruited for the Asthma Multi-centre @entity1 Cohort Study (AMICS). The three concurrent cohorts (Ashford, Kent (UK); Menorca island (Spain) and Barcelona city (Spain) followed the same research protocol. Maternal and paternal atopy was identified by skin prick tests at different times at the three centres. RESULTS: @entity402 was inversely related to the number of offspring, an association which occurred in each of the three cohorts and remained when atopy was defined separately for individual allergens (a positive response to testing with either Der @entity3881 or grass pollen) and which was not confounded by maternal age, smoking nor social class (the adjusted odds ratios were 0.71, 0.79 and 0.26 for increasing number of offspring, P = 0.002). Neither maternal @entity565 (P = 0.43) nor paternal atopy (P = 0.58) were associated with the number of offspring. @entity402 was not related to reproductive outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The association between maternal atopy and parity challenges the role of family size on @entity1 atopy, which should be studied in other populations.

XXXX and parity.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['children', 'women', 'Infants', 'child'] @entity3881 :: ('1423', 'Gene') :: ['p 1'] @entity2023 :: ('MESH:D006255', 'Disease') :: ['hayfever'] @entity565 :: ('MESH:D001249', 'Disease') :: ['asthma'] @entity402 :: ('MESH:C564133', 'Disease') :: ['Maternal atopy']
@entity402 :: (MESH:C564133,Disease) :: ['Maternal atopy']
