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Weight fluctuation during childhood and cardiometabolic risk at young adulthood

Daniëlla van de Langenberg1, Trynke Hoekstra2, Jos W R Twisk2

  • 1Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The Journal of Pediatrics
|December 3, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Weight fluctuation in early childhood predicts adult overweight in girls. For boys, the trend of weight change, not fluctuation, is linked to adult overweight. These findings highlight early life weight patterns for future health.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Early childhood weight patterns may influence long-term health.
  • Understanding weight fluctuation's impact is crucial for preventative strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between weight fluctuation between ages 2-6 and adult weight measures and cardiometabolic risk.
  • To determine if early childhood weight variability predicts later health outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed weight fluctuation using BMI SD scores in 282 children (166 girls, 116 boys) from the Terneuzen Birth Cohort.
  • Measured cardiometabolic risk factors and weight in young adulthood.
  • Related individual weight variation scores to adult BMI and metabolic syndrome components.

Main Results:

  • Greater weight fluctuation in early childhood was significantly associated with higher adult weight measures in girls.
  • Weight fluctuation was not significantly linked to adult metabolic syndrome in girls.
  • For boys, weight fluctuation was not associated with adult weight, but weight slope predicted adult overweight.

Conclusions:

  • Early childhood weight fluctuations predict adult overweight in girls.
  • Weight trends (slope) rather than fluctuation predict adult overweight in boys.
  • Findings suggest sex-specific relationships between early weight patterns and adult health.
Abstract

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