“Adiposity rebound”: reality or epiphenomenon?

Abstract

The term “adiposity rebound” was first used by Rolland-Cachera and her coworkers 1 Rolland-Cachera M-F Deheeger M Bellisle F Sempe M Guilloud-Bataille M Patois E Adiposity rebound in children: a simple indicator for predicting adiposity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1984; 39: 129-135 PubMed Google Scholar to describe the period around 6 years of age when body mass index (BMI) begins to increase after a nadir (figure). The suggestion was that children with an early “adiposity rebound” were at increased risk of obesity when they became adults. 1 Rolland-Cachera M-F Deheeger M Bellisle F Sempe M Guilloud-Bataille M Patois E Adiposity rebound in children: a simple indicator for predicting adiposity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1984; 39: 129-135 PubMed Google Scholar , 2 Rolland-Cachera MF Avons P Patois E Sempe M Tracking the development of adiposity from one month of age to adulthood. Ann Human Biol. 1987; 14: 219-229 Crossref PubMed Scopus (283) Google Scholar , 3 Rolland-Cachwera M-F Bellisle F Deheeger M Guilloud-Bataille M Pequignot F Sempe M Adiposity development and prediction during growth in humans: a two decade follow-up study. in: Bjorntorp P Rossner S Obesity in Europe 88. John Libbey, London1988 Google Scholar Since those original reports, at least four other publications have confirmed that early “adiposity rebound” is associated with an increased BMI in adulthood. 4 Siervogel RM Roche AF Guo S Mukherjee D Chumlea WC Patterns of change in weight/stature2 from 2 to 18 years: findings from long-term serial data for children in the Fels longitudinal growth study. Int J Obesity. 1991; 15: 479-485 PubMed Google Scholar , 5 Prokopec M Bellisle F Adiposity in Czech children followed from 1 month of age to adulthood: analysis of individual BMI patterns. Ann Human Biol. 1993; 20: 517-525 Crossref PubMed Scopus (69) Google Scholar , 6 Whitaker RC Pepe MS Wright JA Seidel KD Dietz WH Early adiposity rebound and the risk of adult obesity. Pediatrics. 1998; (; 101(electronic pages)/3/e5) Google Scholar , 7 Williams S Davie G Lam F Predicting BMI in young adults from childhood data using two approaches to modeling adiposity rebound. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1999; 23: 348-354 Crossref PubMed Scopus (86) Google Scholar