Association between Timing of Adiposity Rebound and Body Weight Gain during Infancy

Abstract

To investigate whether increments of weight gain in early infancy are related to the timing of adiposity rebound (AR). A total of 271 children (147 boys and 124 girls) in 1 community were enrolled in the study. Serial measurements of body mass index were carried out at the ages of 4, 8, and 12 months and 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 years, based on which the age of AR was determined. We also calculated body weight increments in 3 separate periods: birth to 4 months, 4-8 months, and 8-12 months. There was no significant relationship between weight gain in any period of infancy and the age of AR. Weight gain between birth and 4 months was positively correlated only with body mass index at 7 years of age. We could not find an association between body weight gain during infancy and the timing of AR. This suggests that infantile weight gain is not related to childhood obesity through AR.