Weight Gain in Infancy and Vascular Risk Factors in Later Childhood

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that early weight gain would be associated with incident obesity, higher blood pressure, systemic inflammation, and arterial wall thickening in later childhood. METHODS: A longitudinal birth cohort was recruited antenatally from 2 maternity hospitals in Sydney, Australia, between September 1997 and December 1999. Three hundred ninety-five nondiabetic children who were followed to age 8 years had complete data for early weight gain and arterial wall thickness. RESULTS: Independent predictors of excess early weight gain (age 0–18 months; adjusted for height gain) included male gender (0.411 kg [SE: 0.103], P < .001), fewer weeks’ gestation (−0.121 kg [SE: 0.044] per week, P = .006), birth length (0.156 kg [SE: 0.024] per cm, P < .001), and failure to breastfeed to 6 months of age (0.498 kg [SE: 0.108], P < .001). Early height-adjusted weight gain was significantly associated with later childhood overweight (odds ratio [OR]: 1.67 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26 to 2.20] per kg) and obesity (OR: 2.07 [95% CI: 1.53 to 2.79] per kg), excess central adiposity (OR: 1.54 [95% CI: 1.20 to 1.98] per kg), higher systolic blood pressure (1.24 mm Hg [SE: 0.33] per kg, P < .001), higher C-reactive protein (0.17 mg/dL [SE: 0.06] per 100% increase in weight gain, P = .006), and greater carotid intima-media thickness (0.012 mm [SE: 0.004] per kg, P = .002). CONCLUSIONS: Early postnatal weight gain from birth to age 18 months is significantly associated with later childhood overweight and obesity, excess central adiposity, and greater arterial wall thickness.

Associations of Birth Weight and Postnatal Weight Gain With Cardiometabolic Risk Parameters at 5 Years of Age

“…The study by Hof et al 21 shows that the magnitude of BMI at 9 months might be a useful measure in youth healthcare practice for identifying at a young age those children with increased risk for obesity and hypertension later in life. Likewise, Skilton et al 5 observed that early postnatal weight gain from birth to 18 months is independently associated with childhood overweight and obesity, excess central adiposity, and greater arterial wall thickness at 8 years of age. The present study collected a group of children born at term after a noncomplicated pregnancy and in the absence of perinatal illness.…”

“…2 More recent studies have shown that the postnatal growth pattern in infancy is also an important factor in the expression of later disease. [3][4][5][6] Indeed, it is a matter of great interest to know how the interaction between pre-and postnatal growth affects the development of cardiometabolic risk factors.…”

The initiation of metabolic inflammation in childhood obesity

“…In fact, the loci that contribute genetic susceptibility to obesity play a dominant role in regulating weight and fat mass in the first three years of life but do not appear to affect birth weight (74). Weight gain in infancy is a risk factor for elevated CRP and great carotid intima-media thickness in non-diabetic children (75). Large cohort studies have identified surprising links between infant growth and inflammatory diseases such as type 1 diabetes (76) and asthma (77), suggesting that early rapid growth rates may have broad effects on inflammatory responses to environmental stimuli during childhood.…”

Proteins in Complementary Food: What Is the Healthiest Level?

“…В последние годы появились данные о влиянии высокой скорости роста в младенчестве на состояние здоровья ребенка в стар-шем возрасте, а также на состояние здоровья взрос-лого. По данным M. Skilton и соавт., у детей с высокой скоростью роста в первые 2 года жизни отмечалось повышение ИМТ, более высокий уровень артериального давления и увеличение плотности сосудов в возрасте 8 лет [6]. Аналогичное исследование было проведено в Швеции.…”