title: Early growth and body composition in infancy.
abstract: Examination of the relationship between early growth and body composition (BC) in infancy might provide clues about the mechanism of early nutrition programming. 150 healthy full-term infants (64 boys) born in Cambridge from 1985-1993 had BC measured using stable isotope at the age of 12 weeks as a part of infant nutrition studies. Fat mass index (FMI, FM/length(2)) and lean mass index (LMI, LM/length(2)) internal standard deviation scores (SDS) were calculated for boys and girls. Birth weight SDS was positively associated with length, BMI and FMI SDS at 12 weeks, but not LMI SDS; equivalent to 0.26 SDS increase in FMI per 1 SDS increase in birth weight (95% CI, 0.04-0.48). Weight SDS change from birth-12 weeks was positively correlated with FMI and LMI SDS at 12 weeks; equivalent to 0.68 SDS and 0.48 SDS increase in FMI and LMI per 1 SDS gain in weight (95% CI, 0.48-0.88 and 0.26-0.70, respectively). Associations were independent of gender, parity, infant diets, and, for weight gain, birth weight SDS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher birth weight was associated with higher fat mass at 3 months whereas rapid weight gain in the first 3 months was associated with both fat and lean mass. Our data do not support the hypothesis that lean mass tracks directly from fetal life to childhood.
authors.affiliation: MRC Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK. s.chomtho@ich.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sirinuch
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chomtho
authors.forename: Jonathan C K
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Mary S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Fewtrell
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology