Weight Gain in Infancy and Overweight or Obesity in Childhood across the Gestational Spectrum: a Prospective Birth...

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Child Health
• Public Health

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern.
• Understanding early life factors influencing weight trajectories is essential for prevention.
• Gestational age at birth may modify the impact of early weight gain on later outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the optimal degree of infant weight gain across the gestational spectrum.
• To examine the association between infant weight gain patterns and childhood overweight or obesity (OWO).
• To identify risks associated with different weight gain velocities in relation to gestational age.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 1971 children from birth to 7 years.
• Infant weight gain categorized into slow, on track, rapid, and extremely rapid based on z-scores.
• Overweight or obesity (OWO) defined by body mass index percentiles for age and gender.

Main Results:

• Overweight or obesity (OWO) prevalence was 39.7% in the study population.
• Infant weight gain strongly tracked from 4 to 24 months and associated with OWO.
• Extremely rapid weight gain significantly elevated OWO risk in early term and late preterm infants.

Conclusions:

• Optimal infant weight gain monitoring from birth is key for primary prevention of childhood obesity.
• Gestational age influences the risk of OWO associated with infant weight gain.
• Targeted interventions may be needed for high-risk infants based on gestational age and weight gain patterns.