Early life growth trajectories and future risk for overweight

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: J C Jones-Smith, Johns Hopkins University; L M Neufeld, Micronutrient Initiative; B Laraia, University of California Berkeley; Usha Ramakrishnan, Emory University; A Garcia-Guerra, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico; L C H Fernald, University of California Berkeley
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-02-01
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals - Option C
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nutd.2012.32
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nutrition and Diabetes
• ISSN: 2044-4052
• Volume: 3
• Issue: FEBRUARY
• Start Page: e60
• End Page: e60
• Grant/Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R21 HD056581.
• Keywords: CORONARY-HEART-DISEASE; mexico; ADOLESCENT OBESITY; rapid growth; DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES; ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM; BODY-MASS INDEX; BIRTH SIZE; THRIFTY PHENOTYPE HYPOTHESIS; growth velocity; Science & Technology; developmental origins; Endocrinology & Metabolism; FETAL ORIGINS; Nutrition & Dietetics; Superimposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR); Life Sciences & Biomedicine; obesity; MULTIPLE MICRONUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTATION; YOUNG ADULTHOOD; NUTRITION & DIETETICS; CHILD GROWTH
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Human Development

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Standard approaches have found that rapid growth during the first 2 years of life is a risk factor for overweight in later childhood. Our objective was to test whether growth velocity, independent of concurrent size, was associated with overweight using a nonlinear random-effects model that allows for enhanced specifications and estimations. METHODS: Longitudinal data from a birth cohort in Mexico (n=586) were used to estimate growth trajectories over 0-24 months for body mass index (BMI), length and weight using the SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) models. The SITAR models use a nonlinear random-effects model to estimate an average growth curve for BMI, length and weight and each participant's deviation from this curve on three dimensions-size, velocity and timing of peak velocity. We used logistic regression to estimate the association between overweight status at 7-9 years and size, velocity and timing of BMI, length and weight trajectories during 0-24 months. We tested whether any association between velocity and overweight varied by relative size during 0-24 months or birth weight. RESULTS: SITAR models explained the majority of the variance in BMI (73%), height (86%) and weight (85%) between 0-24 months. When analyzed individually, relative BMI/length/weight (size) and BMI/length/weight velocity during 0-24 months were each associated with increased odds of overweight in late childhood. Associations for timing of peak velocity varied by anthropometric measure. However, in the mutually adjusted models, only relative BMI/length/weight (size) remained statistically significant. We found no evidence that any association between velocity and overweight varied by size during 0-24 months or birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: After mutual adjustment, size during 0-24 months of life (as opposed to birth size), but not velocity or timing of peak velocity, was most consistently associated with overweight in later childhood. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.