Infant weight gain and DXA-measured adolescent adiposity: data from the Japan Kids Body-composition Study

Abstract

Background Rapid weight gain in early life is associated with adiposity later in life. However, there is limited information on the association between weight gain and body fat mass measured using precise methods. This study aimed to investigate whether weight gain is associated with body fat mass measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in adolescents. Methods Participants of this retrospective cohort study were 423 adolescents born at full-term who were enrolled in the Japan Kids Body-composition Study. Anthropometric measurements related to pregnancy, delivery, and child health were obtained from the Japanese Maternal and Child Health Handbook. Fat mass in adolescents was measured with a DXA scanner. Weight gain was defined as the change in body weight from birth to age 1.5 years. Associations between birthweight and fat mass, and between weight gain and fat mass, were evaluated using multiple regression analysis. Results There was a significant positive association between weight gain from birth to age 1.5 years and fat mass in adolescents (boys: standardized regression coefficient (β) = 0.253, p < 0.01; girls: β = 0.246, p < 0.01), but not between birthweight standardized for gestational age and fat mass. Conclusion Children with a greater change in weight from birth to age 1.5 years tended to have increased fat mass in adolescence. Weight gain in early life has a greater impact on fat mass in adolescents than birthweight.

Body weight at 1.5- and 3-year health checks and body fat at 14 years of age: a population-based retrospective cohort study using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

“…To our knowledge, no other study has used ROC curves to assess the utility of BMI in early childhood for predicting adiposity in adolescence, and no study has attempted to identify a cutoff point for BMI in early childhood that might predict adolescent adiposity. Few studies with correlation analysis have examined the association between body weight recorded in MCH Handbook and DXA-based whole-body FM in later childhood [ 5 , 6 ]. However, the correlational analysis used in those previous studies cannot describe the nature and extent of any misclassifications [ 7 ].…”

“…The present study was conducted as a population-based retrospective cohort study using data from the Japan Kids Body-composition Study (JKB Study) [ 6 ]. The source population from which our participants were recruited comprised 8th grade students (800 students, mean age of 14 years) registered at Kitakata Municipal Shiokawa Junior High School, Fukushima, in 2010, 2013, and 2016, and at Hamamatsu Municipal Sekishi Junior High School, Shizuoka, in 2013 and 2014.…”

“…To investigate an association between birth weight and body fat at age 14 years, potential confounding bias by gestational age needs to be eliminated. Accordingly, we excluded from the analysis participants who were born at a gestational age < 37 weeks or > 42 weeks, on the basis of a previous report [ 6 ]. The present analyses included 435 participants who provided complete information.…”

“…One study using correlational analysis reported a positive association between body mass index (BMI) at 3 years of age and whole-body FM as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at 11 years of age [ 5 ]. Another study using correlational analysis reported that rapid infant weight gain was positively associated with DXA-based FM in school-aged students [ 6 ]. However, these correlational analyses cannot be used to assess the diagnostic performance of body weight measurements to discriminate between subjects with excessive and normal amounts of FM.…”