Association between timing of adiposity rebound and body weight gain during infancy

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Endocrinology
• Growth and Development
• Childhood Obesity Research

Background:

• Adiposity rebound (AR) is a critical period in early life when body fatness begins to increase after a period of decline.
• Understanding factors influencing AR timing is crucial for identifying children at risk of developing obesity.
• Early infancy weight gain patterns are hypothesized to impact later body composition and health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between weight gain increments during early infancy and the timing of adiposity rebound (AR).
• To determine if specific periods of infant weight gain predict the age at which AR occurs.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 271 children (147 boys, 124 girls) had serial body mass index (BMI) measurements from infancy to 10 years.
• Adiposity rebound (AR) age was determined from BMI trajectories.
• Weight gain was calculated for three distinct infant periods: birth to 4 months, 4-8 months, and 8-12 months.

Main Results:

• No significant relationship was found between weight gain in any of the studied infant periods and the age of adiposity rebound (AR).
• Weight gain between birth and 4 months showed a positive correlation only with body mass index (BMI) at 7 years of age.
• Infantile weight gain patterns did not emerge as a predictor for AR timing in this cohort.

Conclusions:

• The study did not find evidence linking body weight gain during infancy to the timing of adiposity rebound (AR).
• These findings suggest that infantile weight gain may not be a primary driver of childhood obesity through the mechanism of AR.
• Further research is needed to explore other potential early-life predictors of adiposity rebound and childhood obesity risk.