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

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Christopher W. Kuzawa, Northwestern University; Pedro C. Hallal, Federal University of Pelotas; Linda Adair, University of North Carolina; Santosh K. Bhargava, Sunder Lal Jain Hospital; Caroline H.D. Fall, University of Southampton; Nanette Lee, University of San Carlos; Shane Norris, Emory University; Clive Osmond, University of Southampton; Manuel Ramirez-zea, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama; Harshpal Singh Sachdev, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research; Aryeh Stein, Emory University; Cesar G. Victora, Federal University of Pelotas
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.21227
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: American Journal of Human Biology
• ISSN: 1042-0533
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 5
• End Page: 13
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust (UK). Funding for each of the individual cohorts was as follows: Guatemala (US National Institutes of Health and the US National Science Foundation); Pelotas (Wellcome Trust); New Delhi (US National Center for Health Statistics and the Indian Council of Medical Research, British Heart Foundation), Birth-to-twenty (Wellcome Trust, Human Sciences Research Council, South African Medical Research Council, the Mellon Foundation, South-African Netherlands Programme on Alternative Development, Anglo American Chairman’s Fund), Cebu (US National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center).
• Keywords: ABDOMINAL OBESITY; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; DISEASE; INFANCY; CHILDHOOD GROWTH; LIFE; Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics; SIZE; YOUNG ADULTHOOD; Biology; COHORT PROFILE; MASS INDEX; Anthropology; ORIGINS; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Anthropology, Cultural; Biology, Anatomy

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the 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, and 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 (0-12 months, 12-24 months, 24 months-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 fat-free mass relative to those predicting fat mass was greatest for BW, 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 the strongest predictors of PBF, whereas 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: BW 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.