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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

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Associations between birthweight and overweight and obesity in school-age children

N Kapral1, S E Miller1, R J Scharf1

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.

Pediatric Obesity
|July 8, 2017
PubMed

Insights

High birthweight in term and preterm infants is linked to increased obesity risk in school-aged children. Early counseling for families with large infants may help prevent future obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The relationship between birthweight and subsequent obesity risk is not fully understood.
  • Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern with long-term implications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between birthweight and obesity risk in a nationally representative cohort of children.
  • To examine changes in Body Mass Index (BMI) z-score from kindergarten to second grade in relation to birthweight.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized linear and logistic regression analyses on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort 2011.
  • Included 10,186 term and preterm children, adjusting for covariates like sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, and household income.
  • Assessed relationships between birthweight categories (normal, high, large-for-gestational-age, small-for-gestational-age) and obesity status and BMI z-score changes.

Main Results:

  • High birthweight (HBW) term infants and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) preterm infants showed significantly higher BMI z-scores.
  • HBW term infants had increased odds of obesity by kindergarten (aOR 1.91).
  • LGA preterm infants had higher obesity odds in first grade (aOR 2.34), while small-for-gestational-age preterm infants showed higher odds in second grade (aOR 2.26).

Conclusions:

  • High birthweight in term infants and LGA in preterm infants are associated with increased odds of school-age obesity.
  • These findings suggest that birthweight is a critical factor in predicting future obesity.
  • Healthcare providers should consider counseling families of infants with high birthweight to mitigate future obesity risks.
Abstract

Keywords:
Birthweightchildhoodlarge-for-gestational ageobesitysmall-for-gestational age

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