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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sian RobinsonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Background: Early life may be a “critical period” when appetite and regulation of energy balance are programmed, with lifelong consequences for obesity risk. Insight into the potential impact of modifying early-life risk factors on later obesity can be gained by evaluating their combined effects.Objective: The objective was to examine the relation between the number of early-life risk factors and obesity outcomes among children in a prospective birth cohort (Southampton Women’s Survey).Design: Five risk factors were defined: maternal obesity [prepregnant body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) >30], excess gestational weight gain (Institute of Medicine, 2009), smoking during pregnancy, low maternal vitamin D status (<64 nmol/L), and short duration of breastfeeding (none or <1 mo). Obesity outcomes examined when the children were aged 4 and 6 y were BMI, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry–assessed fat mass, overweight, or obesity (International Obesity Task Force). Data were available for 991 mother-child pairs, with children born between 1998 and 2003.Results: Of the children, 148 (15%) had no early-life risk factors, 330 (33%) had 1, 296 (30%) had 2, 160 (16%) had 3, and 57 (6%) had 4 or 5. At both 4 and 6 y, there were positive graded associations between number of early-life risk factors and each obesity outcome (all P < 0.001). After taking account of confounders, the relative risk of being overweight or obese for children who had 4 or 5 risk factors was 3.99 (95% CI: 1.83, 8.67) at 4 y and 4.65 (95% CI: 2.29, 9.43) at 6 y compared with children who had none (both P < 0.001).Conclusions: Having a greater number of early-life risk factors was associated with large differences in adiposity and risk of overweight and obesity in later childhood. These findings suggest that early intervention to change these modifiable risk factors could make a significant contribution to the prevention of childhood obesity.
Author(s): Robinson SM, Crozier SR, Harvey NC, Barton BD, Law CM, Godfrey KM, Cooper C, Inskip HM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Year: 2015
Volume: 101
Issue: 2
Pages: 368-375
Print publication date: 01/02/2015
Online publication date: 03/12/2014
Acceptance date: 12/11/2014
Date deposited: 16/05/2019
ISSN (print): 0002-9165
ISSN (electronic): 1938-3207
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.094268
DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.114.094268
PubMed id: 25646335
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