Abstract
BackgroundLow and high birth weight and accelerated postnatal weight gain are associated with an increased risk of obesity. Perinatal effects on energy intake and eating behavior have been proposed as underlying mechanisms. This study aimed to examine the independent associations of birth weight and postnatal weight and height gain with childhood energy intake and satiety response.MethodsIn a birth cohort study, we used data from 2227 children (52 % male), mean age 5.6 (±0.4) years. Mean daily energy intake and satiety response were parent-reported through validated questionnaires. Exposures were birth weight z-score and conditional weight and height gain between 0–1, 1–3, 3–6, 6–12 months and 12 months to 5 years. Conditional weight and height are residuals of current weight and height regressed on prior growth data, to represent deviations from expected growth. Analyses were adjusted for a set of potential confounding variables.ResultsConditional weight gain between 1–3, 3–6 months and 12 months to 5 years was significantly associated with energy intake, with 29.7 (95 %-CI: 4.6; 54.8), 24.0 (1.8; 46.1) and 79.5 (29.4; 129.7) kcal/day more intake for each Z-score conditional weight gain between 1–3, 3–6 months and 12 months to 5 years, respectively. Conditional height gain between 0–1, 1–3 months and 12 months to 5 years was negatively associated with energy intake (β: −42.0 [66.6; –17.4] for 0–1 months, −35.1 [−58.4; −11.8] for 1–3 months and −37.4 [−72.4; −2.3] for 12 months to 5 years). Conditional weight gain in all periods was negatively associated with satiety response, with effect sizes from − 0.03 (−0.06; −0.002) in early infancy to −0.12 (−0.19; −0.06) in childhood. Birth weight was not associated with energy intake or satiety response.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that accelerated infant and childhood weight gain are associated with increased energy intake and diminished satiety response at 5 years. Accelerated height gain seems to be beneficial for childhood energy intake. This perinatal ‘programming’ of energy intake and eating behavior provide a potential mechanism linking early life influences with later obesity and cardiovascular disease.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0335-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Low and high birth weight and accelerated postnatal weight gain are associated with an increased risk of obesity
A proposed explanation for the association of birth weight and postnatal growth with later obesity is through the concept of ‘Developmental Origins of Health and Disease’, which states that environmental cues during critical periods of life elicit predictive adaptive responses that shape tissue development and metabolic pathways, thereby permanently affecting later health and disease risk [5]
Further information about the distribution of the mean daily energy intake is presented in a histogram available as supplementary figure S1 at the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity‘s website
Summary
Low and high birth weight and accelerated postnatal weight gain are associated with an increased risk of obesity. Secular trends toward increased intake of energy-dense foods and decreased levels of physical activity are recognized as attributable factors to this obesity epidemic, but more recently the perinatal environment has been suggested to play a role. This is based on the observations of numerous population-based cohort studies showing that both low and high birth weight are associated with increased obesity risk [2]. This risk seems to be enhanced when followed by accelerated postnatal weight gain [3], while height gain might protect against subsequent obesity [4]. The mechanisms by which the perinatal environment influence obesity risk, the relative effects of weight and height gains and which period of postnatal growth has the greatest impact on later health are not well established
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