Advertising Disclaimer
Published online March 30, 2009
PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 4 April 2009, pp. 1177-1183 (doi:10.1542/peds.2008-1149)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow View eLetters
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Taveras, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Gillman, M. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Taveras, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Gillman, M. W.
Related Collections
Right arrow Nutrition & Metabolism
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

ARTICLE

Weight Status in the First 6 Months of Life and Obesity at 3 Years of Age

Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPHa,b,c, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, MPHa, Mandy B. Belfort, MD, MPHa,d, Ken P. Kleinman, ScDa, Emily Oken, MD, MPHa, Matthew W. Gillman, MD, SMa,b,e

a Obesity Prevention Program
b Center for Child Health Care Studies, Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Boston, Massachusetts
c Divisions of General Pediatrics
d Newborn Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts
e Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to examine the associations of weight-for-length at birth and at 6 months with obesity at 3 years of age.

METHODS. We studied 559 children in Project Viva, an ongoing, prospective, cohort study of pregnant women and their children. We measured length and weight at birth, 6 months, and 3 years. Our main exposures were weight-for-length z score at birth adjusted for gestational age and weight-for-length z score at 6 months adjusted for weight-for-length z score at birth. We used multivariate regression analyses to predict the independent effects of birth weight-for-length z score and, separately, 6-month weight-for-length z score on BMI z score, the sum of subscapular and triceps skinfold thicknesses, and obesity (BMI for age and gender of ≥95th percentile) at age 3.

RESULTS. Mean weights at birth, 6 months, and 3 years were 3.55, 8.15, and 15.67 kg, respectively. Corresponding lengths were 49.9, 66.9, and 97.4 cm. At 3 years, 48 children (9%) were obese. After adjustment for confounding variables and birth weight-for-length z score, each increment in 6-month weight-for-length z score was associated with higher BMI z scores, higher sums of subscapular and triceps skinfold thicknesses, and increased odds of obesity at age 3. The predicted obesity prevalence among children in the highest quartiles of both birth and 6-month weight-for-length z scores was 40%, compared with 1% for children in the lowest quartiles of both. Whereas birth weight-for-length z scores were associated with higher BMI z scores, the magnitude of effect was smaller than that of weight-for-length z scores at 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS. More-rapid increases in weight for length in the first 6 months of life were associated with sharply increased risk of obesity at 3 years of age. Changes in weight status in infancy may influence risk of later obesity more than weight status at birth.

Key Words: obesity • early infancy • weight for length • birth size

Abbreviations: WFL—weight-for-length • OR—odds ratio • CI—confidence interval • WFA—weight-for-age • LFA—length-for-age

Accepted Jul 30, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum Reprod UpdateHome page
S. M. Nelson, P. Matthews, and L. Poston
Maternal metabolism and obesity: modifiable determinants of pregnancy outcome
Hum. Reprod. Update, December 4, 2009; (2009) dmp050v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Rapid Weight Gain Predicts Cardiometabolic Risk Regardless of Birth Weight
Young S. Choi, et al.
Pediatrics Online, 3 Apr 2009 [Full text]