Rapid Infant Weight Gain Predicts Childhood Overweight

Abstract

Measurements were abstracted by chart review, including weight at birth and 6 months, and height and weight at time of survey and every 6 months subsequently. Overweight at 4 years of age was defined as a BMI Ն 95th ageand sex-specific percentiles. Results: The study sample was 32% Hispanic, 19% black, and 49% white; 17% of children were overweight. Rate of infant weight gain (expressed in terms of 100 g/mo) was significantly associated with being overweight at 4 years (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 1.6 after adjusting for history of breast-feeding, birth weight, and ethnicity). The odds of being overweight at 4 years of age for Hispanic children were twice those of non-Hispanic children (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 3.3). The population-attributable risk of overweight at 4 years of age was 19% for children in the highest quintile of infant weight gain. Discussion: Among this contemporary, multi-ethnic cohort, rapid infant weight gain was associated with increased risk of being overweight at 4 years of age, independently of potential confounders. Identification of the risk factors contributing to rapid weight gain during infancy might improve early recognition and guide strategies for optimal nutrition to prevent the development of childhood overweight.

Weight and weight gain during early infancy predict childhood obesity: a case-cohort study

“…37 Some of these effects, however, may be mixed up with independent effects of when complementary feeding is introduced. 38 Our results suggest that breastfeeding does not affect the association between weight gain and childhood obesity, and studies of obesity at 3-4 years of age, 28,39 and in adolescence 40 arrived at the same conclusion.…”

“…27 Taken together, the results of the present study might be generalized to current populations with lower levels of breastfeeding than the WHO cohort. In addition, the applicability of the findings to the current situation with a much higher prevalence of obesity is supported by a remarkable similarity of the odds ratio associated with a rate of weight gain of 100 g per month from birth to age 6 months (odds ratio, 1.47, 95% CI, 1.34-1.62; data not shown) in this cohort and the result found by Dennison et al 28 in a cohort of American children born from 1995-99, where infant weight gain was associated with 1.44-fold (95% CI, 1.26-1.65) increased risk of obesity at age 4 years per 100 g per month. As later studies tend to report stronger associations, 8 the present findings may be conservative estimates.…”

Obesity and energy balance: is the tail wagging the dog?

“…Obesity, insulin and growth Rapid growth in infants and children has likewise been implicated in many studies as a risk factor for childhood or adult obesity Baird et al, 2005;Monteiro and Victora, 2005;Stettler et al, 2005;Dennison et al, 2006). These studies have generated two findings of specific interest in the context of our discussion.…”

Velocidade de ganho de peso nos primeiros anos de vida e excesso de peso entre 5-11 anos de idade, Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

“…Por outro lado, em populações de países desenvolvidos, o ganho de peso rápido esteve associado ao sobrepeso/obesidade em pré-escolares e adolescentes 12,13 . Estudos recentes têm mostrado evidências que indicam que este pode ser um problema também em populações urbanas pobres, visto que o ganho de peso rápido até os dois primeiros anos de vida foi associado ao sobrepeso/obesidade em pré-escolares e escolares de baixa renda 14,15 e também em adolescentes brasileiros 6 .…”