Abstract
Objectives: Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study aimed to replicate the finding of the Etude Longitudinale Alimentation Nutrition Croissance des Enfants (ELANCE) that low fat intake in early childhood was associated with increased adiposity in adulthood. Methods: Diet was assessed at 8 and 18 months using 3-day food records. Body composition variables were measured at 9 and 17 years, and serum leptin at 9 years. Associations were modelled using adjusted linear regression. Results: In replication analyses, in contrast to ELANCE, there was a positive association between fat intake (% energy) at 18 months and fat mass (FM) at 9 years (B coefficient 0.10 (95% CI 0.03, 0.20) kg, p = 0.005). There was no association with serum leptin. In extended analyses fat intake at 18 months was positively associated with FM in boys (0.2 (0.00, 0.30), p = 0.008) at 9 years but not in girls. Fat intake was positively associated with serum leptin concentration in boys (0.2 (0.1, 0.4) ng/mL, p = 0.011) but not in girls. Conclusions: Our results did not corroborate the findings from the ELANCE study. A high fat diet in early life may have implications for later childhood and adolescent obesity.
Highlights
Childhood obesity is a major public health issue and its prevalence is increasing both in the UK and internationally
Our results suggest that a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrate in early childhood is associated with increased adiposity later in life in boys in this cohort
There was strong evidence among boys of a positive association between fat %E at 18 months and fat mass (FM) at age 9 years (0.2 kg, p = 0.008) and the association was present but attenuated at age 17 years (0.3 kg, p = 0.045)
Summary
Childhood obesity is a major public health issue and its prevalence is increasing both in the UK and internationally. In early childhood a high protein intake has been linked to later body composition as it enhances secretion of insulin-like growth factor-1, which may increase growth and adiposity [9]. Dietary fat intake is reduced during complementary feeding with the partial replacement of milk by carbohydrate-rich foods [10,11]. During this transition period many important hormonal and enzymatic changes occur that affect carbohydrate and lipid metabolism [12]. Animal studies have shown that a high carbohydrate, low fat diet during both the suckling [13] and weaning period [14] programs susceptibility to obesity later in life. The programming potential of the fat content of early diet on the development of adiposity in humans is not known
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