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Updated: Jul 11, 2025

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

Published on: February 2, 2017

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Infant fat mass and later child and adolescent health outcomes: a systematic review

Federica Amati1, Lucy McCann2, Eurídice Castañeda-Gutiérrez3

  • 1Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK f.amati@imperial.ac.uk.

Archives of Disease in Childhood
|November 8, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Infant body composition, particularly fat mass, may predict later obesity and body mass index (BMI). However, more standardized research is needed to confirm infant adiposity as a reliable biomarker for future health risks.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Nutritional Science
  • Biomarkers

Background:

  • Obesity and excess adiposity are major contributors to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
  • Early identification of at-risk individuals is crucial for effective preventive strategies.
  • Infant body composition is a potential early indicator of future health trajectories.

Approach:

  • A systematic review was conducted, searching Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane databases for studies published between January 1946 and February 2022.
  • Included studies assessed infant body composition (0-2 years) using in vivo methods, excluding body mass index (BMI).
  • 30 high-quality studies were included in the narrative synthesis, examining health outcomes after 2 years of age.

Key Points:

  • The strongest associations observed were between infant fat mass and later fat mass (7 studies) and later BMI (5 studies).
  • Eleven assessed health outcomes showed no relationship with infant adiposity.
  • Outcome measurements ranged from 2 to 16 years post-infancy.

Conclusions:

  • Current evidence suggests a link between infant adiposity and future adiposity or BMI.
  • The reliability of infant body composition as a biomarker for future health remains inconclusive.
  • Standardized, well-designed studies are necessary to validate infant body composition for predicting later health outcomes.
Abstract

Keywords:
child healthepidemiologygrowthobesity

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