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Gestational and early life influences on infant body composition at 1 year

Paula C Chandler-Laney1, Barbara A Gower, David A Fields

  • 1Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. pchandle@uab.edu

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|March 19, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Infant weight gain velocity, particularly in the first six months, is a critical predictor of body composition and truncal fat distribution at 12 months of age. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and older maternal age also influence these outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Human Growth and Development
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Excessive weight gain in early life increases the risk of later-life obesity.
  • While gestational and early life factors are known contributors, research on independent effects of prenatal factors and infant weight gain velocity on body composition is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between birth weight (as a proxy for prenatal weight gain) and infant weight gain velocity (before 6 months) with total and truncal adiposity at 12 months of age.

Main Methods:

  • Healthy, term infants (N=47) were enrolled.
  • Rate of weight gain (g/day) was assessed at 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 months.
  • Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at 12 months.

Main Results:

  • Infant weight gain velocity predicted lean mass, total fat mass, and trunk fat mass at 12 months.
  • Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and older maternal age were also associated with lean and total fat mass, respectively.
  • Early infancy weight gain velocity (0-6 months) was specifically linked to trunk fat mass.

Conclusions:

  • Growth velocity during early infancy is a key determinant of subsequent body composition.
  • Infant growth patterns significantly influence truncal fat distribution by 12 months of age.
Abstract

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