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Infant overweight is associated with delayed motor development

Meghan Slining1, Linda S Adair, Barbara Davis Goldman

  • 1Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997, USA. slining@email.unc.edu

The Journal of Pediatrics
|March 16, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Infant overweight and high subcutaneous fat are linked to delayed motor development. Early identification and intervention are crucial for healthy infant development.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Developmental Biology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Infant overweight and high subcutaneous fat are growing concerns.
  • Early motor development is critical for overall child development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between infant overweight and high subcutaneous fat and motor development.
  • To assess if excess adiposity in infancy predicts motor delays.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective, longitudinal study of 217 low-income African-American mother-infant dyads from 3 to 18 months.
  • Overweight defined by weight-for-length z-score ≥90th percentile; high subcutaneous fat by skinfold measurements ≥90th percentile.
  • Motor development assessed using Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II; delay defined as Psychomotor Development Index score <85.

Main Results:

  • Overweight infants were 1.80 times more likely to experience motor delay.
  • Infants with high subcutaneous fat were 2.32 times more likely to have motor delay.
  • High subcutaneous fat also predicted subsequent motor development delays (OR, 2.27).

Conclusions:

  • Pediatric overweight and high subcutaneous fat are significantly associated with delayed infant motor development.
  • These findings highlight the importance of monitoring infant body composition for developmental outcomes.
Abstract

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