Association between rapid weight gain and overweight in children aged 0 to 5 years in Latin America

Abstract

Objectives: to assess the prevalence of rapid weight gain (RWG) in children born with normal weight and its association with overweight (OW) in four Latin America countries. Methods: cross-sectional study in children aged 0 to 5 from the Pesquisa Nacional de Demografia e Saúde da Criança e da Mulher in Brazil and the Encuesta Nacional de Demografía y Salud in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru,using a birth weight ≥2,500g. The outcome variable was OW, the exposure was RWG and breastfeeding (BF) was the adjustment variable. Prevalence, odds ratio and 95% confidence intervalwere estimated using multivariate logistic regression model. Results: there was a greater prevalence of RWG and BF at less than 6 months in Brazil, and a greater prevalence of OW in Brazil and Bolivia. The chances of OW when RWG was present and adjusted for BF were 6.1 times (CI95% = 3.8-9.7) in Brazil, 4.4 times (CI95% = 3.6-5.3) in Bolivia, 6.7 times (CI95% = 5.5-8.2) in Colombia, and 12.2 times in Peru (CI95% = 9.4-15.7) with a p < 0.001 for all countries. Conclusions: RWG in children with normal birth weight was associated with a greater chance of being OW in the four observed Latin America countries.