Pacific Islands Families Study: adverse impact of food insecurity on child body composition
Sakura Oyama1, El-Shadan Tautolo2, Collin Tukuitonga3
1MD/PhD student, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, Connecticut, United States of America.
Insights
Household food insecurity during early development is linked to increased body fat in adolescent boys, potentially posing future health risks. This association was not observed in adolescent girls.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Human Nutrition
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- COVID-19 has worsened food insecurity, poverty, and inequities in Aotearoa.
- Household food insecurity during critical developmental periods may impact long-term health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that malnutrition from household food insecurity in fetal and early infancy is associated with adolescent body composition.
- To investigate the relationship between early-life food insecurity and body composition markers in adolescence.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Pacific Islands Families Study, including 1,376 mothers surveyed about food security postpartum.
- Assessed height and weight at age 14 in 931 youth.
- Conducted dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) on a sub-sample to measure appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT).
Main Results:
- Boys from food-insecure households had higher birthweights, greater body fat percentage, less appendicular skeletal muscle mass, and more visceral adipose tissue at age 14.
- No significant differences in birthweight or body composition at age 14 were found between girls from food-insecure and food-secure households.
Conclusions:
- Early-life household food insecurity is associated with increased abdominal and visceral fat in adolescent boys.
- These body composition changes in boys may indicate elevated health risks later in life.
Aim:
COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity, unemployment, inequities and poverty in Aotearoa. Here, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to malnutrition due to household food insecurity during foetal life and early infancy is associated with body composition in adolescence.
Methods:
As part of the Pacific Islands Families Study, 1,376 Pacific Island mothers were asked questions about food security at six weeks postpartum in the year 2000. At age 14 years, 931 youth completed in-school assessments of height and weight. Of these youth, 10 girls and 10 boys from each weight decile were randomly selected to participate in a nested sub-study involving dual x-ray absorptiometry measurements, which included appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT).
Results:
Boys born to families experiencing food insecurity had greater birthweights and greater % fat, less % ASMM and greater % VAT of total weight at age 14 years compared to boys born into food secure households. In contrast, there were no differences in birthweight or body composition at age 14 years by household food insecurity status among girls.
Conclusion:
This study shows that household food insecurity during early development is associated with higher abdominal and visceral fat in boys, which may have health risks in later life.
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