Ambient temperature exposure and rapid infant weight gain
Neora Alterman1, Daniel Nevo2, Ronit Calderon-Margalit1
1Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Insights
High ambient temperatures during pregnancy and the first month after birth are linked to rapid infant weight gain. This finding highlights environmental factors influencing early childhood obesity risk.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatrics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing global public health issue.
- Rapid infant weight gain is a known predictor of future overweight and obesity.
- Existing research suggests a link between ambient temperature exposure and infant growth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between prenatal and early postnatal ambient temperature exposure and rapid infant weight gain.
- To quantify the risk of rapid infant weight gain related to temperature exposure during critical developmental periods.
Main Methods:
- A population-based historical cohort study of over 1.1 million infants born between 2011-2019.
- Utilized a spatiotemporal model to estimate ambient temperatures at the infant's residence.
- Employed the SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) method to model infant growth and define rapid weight gain (upper tertile of growth velocity).
Main Results:
- Higher ambient temperatures during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of rapid infant weight gain (RR 1.33 for highest vs. lowest quintile).
- Higher ambient temperatures during the first postnatal month also showed an association with rapid infant weight gain (RR 1.19).
- Specific temperature associations varied by gestational period, with high temperatures linked to early/mid-pregnancy and low temperatures to late pregnancy.
Conclusions:
- Both prenatal and postnatal ambient temperature exposures are significantly associated with rapid infant weight gain.
- Environmental temperature is a modifiable factor that may influence early-life weight trajectories.
- Findings underscore the importance of considering ambient temperature in strategies to prevent childhood obesity.
Background:
Childhood obesity is a major public health concern, and the global rate is rising. Rapid infant weight gain is a risk factor for later overweight. Studies have linked prenatal ambient temperature exposure to fetal growth, and preliminary evidence suggests postnatal exposure may be associated with infant weight gain.
Methods:
Using a population-based historical cohort study including 1 100 576 infants born 2011-2019, we assessed the relationship between prenatal and one-month postnatal ambient temperature exposure and rapid infant weight gain. We used a hybrid spatiotemporal model to assess temperatures at the family's recorded residence at birth. Repeated weight measurements between birth and 15 months were used to model the outcome using the SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) method. We employed generalized linear models and distributed lag models to estimate the association between prenatal and postnatal exposure and rapid infant weight gain, defined as the upper tertile of the SITAR growth velocity.
Results:
Overall, higher ambient temperatures were associated with rapid infant weight gain. The cumulative adjusted relative risk for the highest exposure quintile during pregnancy compared with the lowest quintile was 1.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25, 1.40], and the corresponding association for the first postnatal month was 1.19 (95% CI: 1.15, 1.23). Exposure to high ambient temperature during early and mid-pregnancy, as well as the first postnatal month, was associated with rapid weight gain, while during late pregnancy, exposure to low temperatures was associated with this outcome.
Conclusions:
Prenatal and postnatal ambient temperatures are associated with rapid infant weight gain.
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