Abstract
BackgroundChildren born small-for-gestational-age (SGA) are at increased risk of developing obesity and metabolic diseases later in life, a risk which is magnified if followed by accelerated postnatal growth. We investigated whether common gene variants associated with adult obesity were associated with increased postnatal growth, as measured by BMI z-score, in children born SGA and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative.MethodsA total of 37 candidate SNPs were genotyped on 547 European children (228 SGA and 319 AGA). Repeated measures of BMI (z-score) were used for assessing obesity status, and results were corrected for multiple testing using the false discovery rate.ResultsSGA children had a lower BMI z-score than non-SGA children at assessment age 3.5, 7 and 11 years. We confirmed 27 variants within 14 obesity risk genes to be individually associated with increasing early childhood BMI, predominantly in those born AGA.ConclusionsGenetic risk variants are less important in influencing early childhood BMI in those born SGA than in those born AGA, suggesting that non-genetic or environmental factors may be more important in influencing childhood BMI in those born SGA.
Highlights
Children born small-for-gestational-age (SGA) are at increased risk of developing obesity and metabolic diseases later in life, a risk which is magnified if followed by accelerated postnatal growth
We explored the childhood growth of those born SGA and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and investigated the association of candidate obesity genes with the BMI z-score in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative (ABC) study children, in relation to SGA status
Infants were defined as AGA if their birthweight was greater than the sex-specific 10th percentile for gestational age in the New Zealand population
Summary
Children born small-for-gestational-age (SGA) are at increased risk of developing obesity and metabolic diseases later in life, a risk which is magnified if followed by accelerated postnatal growth. Worldwide more than 30 million infants per year are born small for gestational age (SGA) defined by birth weight below the 10th percentile, according to gestational age [1] These infants are at increased risk of mortality and morbidity in early life as well as greater later risk of developing obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes. Two recent studies involving the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children [7], and the 1946 British Birth Cohort study [8], have found that a genetic predisposition score of 8 and 11 adult obesity susceptibility alleles were associated with greater infancy and childhood weight, height and BMI gain. While combining established genetic variants for BMI into a risk-allele score maximised statistical power, this approach masked possible heterogeneity in effects of individual variants
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