Abstract
(1) Background: Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat. Several early developmental factors have been identified which are associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity and increased adiposity in childhood. The primary objective of the present study is to analyse the effect of various early risk factors on Body Mass Index (BMI) and body fat percentage at 2 years of age. (2) Methods: A prospective cohort study design was used, with the sample consisting of 109 mother-child pairs from whom data were collected between early pregnancy and 2 years old. Adiposity was determined based on skinfold measurements using the Brooks and Siri formulae. Mean comparison tests (Student’s t-test and ANOVAs) and multiple linear regression models were used to analyse the relationship between early programming factors and dependent variables. (3) Results: Maternal excess weight during early pregnancy (β = 0.203, p = 0.026), gestational smoking (β = 0.192, p = 0.036), and accelerated weight gain in the first 2 years (β = − 0.269, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with high body fat percentage. Pre-pregnancy BMI and accelerated weight gain in the first 2 years were associated with high BMI z-score (β = 0.174, p = 0.047 and β = 0.417, p = 0.000 respectively). The cumulative effect of these variables resulted in high values compared to the baseline zero-factor group, with significant differences in BMI z-score (F = 8.640, p = 0.000) and body fat percentage (F = 5.402, p = 0.002) when three factors were present. (4) Conclusions: The presence of several early risk factors related to obesity in infancy was significantly associated with higher BMI z-score and body fat percentage at 2 years of age. The presence of more than one of these variables was also associated with higher adiposity at 2 years of age. Early prevention strategies should address as many of these factors as possible.
Highlights
Childhood obesity is a public health problem recognised as an epidemic illness by the WHO [1]
The multicentre IDEFICS study found a linear relationship between birth weight and childhood obesity, but this relationship disappeared after adjusting for lean mass [13]
Maternal Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 has a strong correlation with neonatal adiposity [33], and higher adiposity at birth appears as a risk factor for childhood obesity at age 5 years [20]
Summary
Childhood obesity is a public health problem recognised as an epidemic illness by the WHO [1]. Obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that may be detrimental to health [2]. Body mass index (BMI) has established itself as the most widely used, practical, easy to apply, inexpensive, and non-invasive anthropometric indicator for classifying overweightness and obesity. High BMI values are a good indicator of excess fat [3]. High BMI is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease [4]. It allows the level of subcutaneous fat to be estimated, but does not do so for visceral fat. Using skinfold measurements in several areas and applying specific equations, body density and body
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