title: Fat and fat-free mass at birth: air displacement plethysmography measurements on 350 Ethiopian newborns.
abstract: LBW increases the risk of a number of noncommunicable diseases in adulthood. However, birth weight (BW) cannot describe variability in infant body composition (BC). Variability in fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) at birth may be particularly important in low-income countries because they undergo nutritional transition. There is a need for data on birth BC and its predictors from low-income countries in transition. We assessed absolute FM and FFM at birth and examined the role of gender, parity, GA, and LBW as predictors of birth BC. FM and FFM were assessed within 48 h of birth on 350 Ethiopian newborns using air displacement plethysmography (ADP). Female gender and being an infant of primi- or secundiparous mothers predicted lower BW and lower birth FFM but not FM, compared with male gender and infants of multiparous mothers, respectively. There was a positive linear relationship between BW and relative amount of FM for boys and girls. This study presents reference data on birth FM and FFM from a low-income setting and provides background for further longitudinal mapping of the relationship between fetal BC, childhood growth, and adult disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. gsa@life.ku.dk
authors.forename: Gregers S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Tsinuel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Girma
authors.forename: Jonathan C K
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Pernille
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kæstel
authors.forename: Kim F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Michaelsen
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Friis
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology; D001722:Birth Order; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000379:methods; D012737:Sex Factors