Growth in both fetal life and infancy affects childhood body mass index, whereas only infant growth directly affects measured total body and abdominal fat. Fetal growth deceleration followed by infant growth acceleration may lead to an adverse body fat distribution in childhood.

Background: More specific total body and abdominal fat mass measures might be stronger associated with cardiovascular risk factors in childhood, than BMI. We examined the independent associations of total and abdominal fat measures with cardiovascular risk factors in school age children. Methods:We performed a population-based cohort study among 6,523 children. At the age of 6 y, we measured childhood BMI, and general and abdominal fat mass, using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and ultrasound and cardiovascular risk factors. results: Conditional on BMI, higher fat mass percentage and abdominal fat mass were associated with higher blood pressure, total-and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, insulin and c-peptide levels, but with lower left ventricular mass and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (P values < 0.05). These associations differed between underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese children. Higher childhood adiposity measures were associated with increased odds of cardiovascular risk factors clustering, with the strongest effect for fat mass percentage (odds ratios: 3.01 (95% confidence interval: 2.67, 3.9). conclusion: Our results suggest that general and abdominal fat measures are associated with cardiovascular risk factors in childhood, independent from BMI. These measures may provide additional information for identification of children with an adverse cardiovascular profile.c hildhood obesity is a major public health problem (1). It seems that not only overweight and obesity, but also higher body mass across the full range is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in childhood and adulthood (2-5). BMI does not distinguish lean mass from fat mass (6). Among adults and children, total body fat mass assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) seems to be, independent from BMI, associated with cardiovascular risk factors (3,7). Also, waist circumference, as proxy for abdominal fat mass, was independent of BMI related to the risk of mortality in adults, suggesting that central or abdominal adiposity is more strongly associated with adverse health outcomes (4,8). Abdominal fat mass is an accumulation of both subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues. In adults, visceral adipose tissue accumulation is stronger related with an adverse glucose and lipid profile than subcutaneous adipose tissue accumulation (8). Thus far, population-based studies focused on the associations of different detailed total body and abdominal fat mass measures with cardiovascular risk factors in children show inconsistent results. Abdominal fat mass in children has been identified as a stronger predictor of cardiovascular risk factors, as compared to BMI, though results are not consistent (2,3,9). These inconsistent findings may be explained by different measures of fat mass and variation of children's age included in these studies.Therefore, we examined in a population-based cohort study among 6,523 school-age children, the independent associations of BMI and total ...

Lower maternal n-3 PUFA concentrations and higher n-6 PUFA concentrations during pregnancy are associated with higher body fat and abdominal fat in childhood. Additional studies are needed to replicate these observations and to explore the causality, the underlying pathways, and the long-term cardiometabolic consequences.

Objective: The associations of maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy with offspring growth patterns and body fat and insulin levels at school age were examined. Methods: In a population-based birth cohort among 7,857 mothers and their children, maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy was assessed by questionnaires. Growth characteristics were measured from birth onward. At 6 years, body fat and insulin levels were measured. Results: Compared to children whose mothers consumed <2 units of caffeine per day during pregnancy (1 unit of caffeine is equivalent to 1 cup of coffee (90 mg caffeine)), those whose mothers consumed 6 units of caffeine per day tended to have a lower weight at birth, higher weight gain from birth to 6 years, and higher body mass index from 6 months to 6 years. Both children whose mothers consumed 4-5.9 and 6 units of caffeine per day during pregnancy tended to have a higher childhood body mass index and total body fat mass. Only children whose mothers consumed 6 units of caffeine per day had a higher android/gynoid fat mass ratio. Conclusions: These results suggest that high levels of maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy are associated with adverse offspring growth patterns and childhood body fat distribution. IntroductionCaffeine is frequently consumed during pregnancy (1). Caffeine crosses the placenta and enters the fetal circulation freely (2). Fetal exposure to caffeine is prolonged as a result of a slow clearance of caffeine in pregnant women and slow fetal metabolism (3). Ours and other previous studies have reported associations of high levels of maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy with higher risks of low birth weight (4-7). High maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy also has been associated with impaired fetal length growth from the second trimester onward (7).Although previous studies have consistently suggested that children born with a low birth weight are at higher risk of an adverse body fat distribution and insulin resistance in later life (8-12), not much is known about the direct long-term offspring consequences of maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy. A recent prospective cohort study in the United States among 615 mothers and children reported a higher overall risk of obesity before the age of 15 years in children exposed to any caffeine during pregnancy (13). Another recent study among 1,986 mothers and children in the United States did not observe consistent associations between maternal serum paraxanthine concentrations, the primary metabolite of caffeine, during pregnancy and childhood body mass index at the ages of 4 and 7 years (14). In addition, animal studies have shown a decreased expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF-1 receptors, and insulin receptors in the offspring of rats exposed to caffeine during pregnancy, suggesting that fetal exposure to caffeine may disturb early growth and glucose metabolism (15,16). To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have assessed the associations of maternal caffeine intake ...

Associations of infant breastfeeding and age at the introduction of solid foods with general and abdominal fat outcomes are explained by sociodemographic and lifestyle-related factors. Whether infant dietary composition affects specific fat outcomes at older ages should be further studied.

Obesity during pregnancy may be correlated with an adverse nutritional status affecting pregnancy and offspring outcomes. We examined the associations of prepregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain with plasma fatty acid concentrations in mid-pregnancy. This study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study among 5636 women. We obtained prepregnancy body mass index and maximum weight gain during pregnancy by questionnaires. We measured concentrations of saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-6 PUFA) at a median gestational age of 20.5 (95 % range 17.1–24.9) weeks. We used multivariate linear regression models. As compared to normal weight women, obese women had higher total SFA concentrations [difference: 0.10 standard deviation (SD) (95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 0, 0.19)] and lower total n-3 PUFA concentrations [difference: − 0.11 SD (95 % CI − 0.20, − 0.02)]. As compared to women with sufficient gestational weight gain, those with excessive gestational weight gain had higher SFA concentrations [difference: 0.16 SD (95 % CI 0.08, 0.25)], MUFA concentrations [difference: 0.16 SD (95 % CI 0.08, 0.24)] and n-6 PUFA concentrations [difference: 0.12 SD (95 % CI 0.04, 0.21)]. These results were not materially affected by adjustment for maternal characteristics. Our results suggest that obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy are associated with an adverse fatty acids profile. Further studies are needed to assess causality and direction of the observed associations. Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10654-015-0106-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Higher body fatness is associated with narrower retinal arteriolar caliber, whereas increased C-reactive protein levels are associated with wider retinal venular caliber. Increased fat mass and inflammation correlate with microvascular development from school-age onwards.

Specific fetal and infant growth patterns are associated with different cardiovascular outcomes in children. Further studies are needed to identify the underlying mechanisms and the long-term cardiovascular consequences.