title: Migrant background and weight gain in early infancy: results from the German study sample of the IDEFICS study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine variations in infant weight gain between children of parents with and without migrant background and to investigate how these differences are explained by pre- and perinatal factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data on birth weight and weight at six months from well-child check-up books that were collected from a population-based German sample of children in the IDEFICS study (n = 1,287). We calculated unadjusted and adjusted means for weight z-scores at birth and six months later. We applied linear regression for change in weight z-score and we calculated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for rapid weight gain by logistic regression, adjusted for biological, social and behavioural factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Weight z-scores for migrants and Germans differed slightly at birth, but were markedly increased for Turkish and Eastern European infants at age six months. Turkish infants showed the highest change in weight z-score during the first 6 months (ß = 0.35; 95% CI 0.14-0.56) and an increased probability of rapid weight gain compared with German infants. Examination of the joint effect of migrant and socioeconomic status (SES) showed the greatest change in weight z-scores in Turkish infants from middle SES families (ß = 0.77; 95% CI 0.40-1.14) and infants of parents from Eastern European countries with high SES (ß = 0.72; 95% CI 0.13-1.32).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support the hypothesis that migrant background is an independent risk factor for infant weight gain and suggest that the onset of health inequalities in overweight starts in early infancy.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology (BIPS), Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reeske
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spallek
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bammann
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eiben
authors.forename: Stefaan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Henauw
authors.forename: Yiannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kourides
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ahrens
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001724:Birth Weight; D001835:Body Weight; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D015430:Weight Gain