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Updated: May 20, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
BMI development of normal weight and overweight children in the PIAMA study
Saskia M Willers1, Bert Brunekreef, Henriëtte A Smit
1Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Insights
Rapid BMI increase from infancy is linked to childhood overweight. Early and continuous interventions are crucial for prevention, as no single critical period was identified.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health
- Childhood obesity research
- Growth and development studies
Background:
- Rapid weight gain in infancy correlates with later overweight.
- Existing research on critical periods for overweight development is inconsistent.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify age-specific BMI differences between normal-weight and overweight children.
- To determine age intervals most influential for overweight risk at 8 years.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal data from 3963 children in the PIAMA birth cohort study.
- Annual BMI and BMI standard deviation scores (SDS) calculated from birth to 8 years.
- Statistical analysis comparing BMI SDS changes between overweight and normal-weight children at 8 years.
Main Results:
- 10.5% of children were overweight at 8 years.
- Higher mean BMI SDS observed in future overweight children as early as 1 year old.
- BMI SDS change in each year significantly predicted overweight at 8 years, with increasing odds ratios from 0-1 year to 7-8 years.
Conclusions:
- Accelerated BMI SDS increase from infancy is significantly associated with 8-year-old overweight risk.
- No specific critical period for overweight development was identified.
- Overweight prevention requires early and ongoing, age-specific interventions throughout childhood.
Background:
There is evidence that rapid weight gain during the first year of life is associated with overweight later in life. However, results from studies exploring other critical periods for the development of overweight are inconsistent.
Objective:
The objective was to investigate BMI development to assess at what ages essential differences between normal weight and overweight children occur, and to assess which age intervals the most strongly influence the risk of overweight at 8 years of age.
Methods:
Longitudinal weight and height data were collected by annual questionnaires in a population of 3963 children participating in the PIAMA birth cohort study. BMI and BMI standard deviation scores (SDS) were calculated for every year from birth until 8 years of age. BMI, BMI SDS and BMI SDS change in each 1-year-age interval were compared between children with and without overweight at 8 years of age, using t-tests, logistic regression analysis and the analysis of response profiles method.
Results:
At 8 years of age, 10.5% of the children were overweight. Already at the age of 1 year, these children had a significantly higher mean BMI SDS than normal weight 8-year-olds, (0.53 vs 0.04). In each 1-year-age interval the change in BMI SDS was significantly associated with overweight at 8 years with odds ratios increasing from 1.14 (95% CI 1.04-1.24) per 1 SDS increase at 0-1 year to 2.40 (95% CI 2.09-2.76) at 7-8 years.
Conclusion:
At every age, starting already in the first year of life, a rapid increase in BMI SDS was significantly associated with overweight risk at the age of 8 years. There was no evidence for a specific critical period for the development of overweight. Prevention of overweight should start early in life and be continued with age-specific interventions throughout childhood.
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