Birth weight, postnatal weight gain, and adult body composition in five low and middle income countries

Abstract

Objectives-Evaluate associations between birth weight (BW), infancy and childhood weight gain and adult body composition.Methods-Subjects included participants of five birth cohort studies from low and middle income nations (Brazil, Guatemala, India, Philippines, South Africa; n=3432). We modeled adult body composition as a function of BW and conditional weight gain (CW), representing changes in weight trajectory relative to peers, in three age intervals (0-12m, 12-24m, 24m-mid childhood).Results-In 34 of 36 site-and sex-specific models, regression coefficients associated with BW and CWs were higher for adult fat-free than for fat mass. The strength of coefficients predicting Europe PMC Funders GroupAuthor Manuscript Am J Hum Biol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 January 10. Europe PMC Funders Author ManuscriptsEurope PMC Funders Author Manuscripts fat-free mass relative to those predicting fat mass was greatest for birth weight, intermediate for CWs through 24 months, and weaker thereafter. However, because fat masses were smaller and showed larger variances than fat-free masses, weaker relationships with fat mass still yielded modest but significant increases in adult % body fat (PBF). CW at 12 months and mid-childhood tended to be strongest predictors of PBF, while BW was generally the weakest predictor of PBF. For most early growth measures, a 1 SD change predicted less than a 1% change in adult body fat, suggesting that any health impacts of early growth on changes in adult body composition are likely to be small in these cohorts.Conclusions-Birth weight and weight trajectories up to 24 months tend to be more strongly associated with adult fat-free mass than with fat mass, while weight trajectories in mid-childhood predict both fat mass and fat-free mass.

Physical Fitness and Birth Weight in Young Men From Maputo City, Mozambique

“…This influence is aligned with previous studies 22 . Similarly, the differences in the hip and abdominal skinfold thicknesses, as well as in the indices of central fat distribution (waist-hip and skinfold ratios) seen in the LBW and HBW are in accordance with earlier findings 17,23 . It seems that both low and excessive birth weight can predict more strongly adult adiposity than adult lean mass.…”

“…In human, these observations were replicated in both from industrialized countries 7 and also those undergoing the nutritional transition 17,18 . In African countries, previous studies have shown the effects of birth weight on growth and development during childhood 19 .…”

Early Life Influences and Type-2 Diabetes – A Review

“…Poor intrauterine growth affecting weight at birth has been linked to adverse outcomes later in life [15][16][17][18][19][20] . This 'developmental programming' hypothesis propounded by David Barker and colleagues posits that a stimulus or insult during a critical period of foetal growth and development that causes perturbations of the maternal-placental-foetal unit can cause permanent changes in metabolism, structure and function of foetal organs and systems 15,21 .…”

Breastfeeding and complementary feeding associated with body composition in 18–19 years old adolescents in the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort

“…Studies on early origins of diseases have identified early life determinants of excess body fat accumulation [4,5]. The first years of life are critical periods of development.…”