title: Infant growth rates predict childhood obesity in Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center, Thailand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is increasingly becoming a problem among the Thai people; infant growth rates have been shown to be linked to childhood obesity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to determine the period of infant growth and to identify a cut-off point, in order to be able to predict overweight and obesity in children age 3-4 years at the Well Baby Clinic, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center (HRH MSMC).
  
  
  METHODS
  The design was retrospective cohort. All subjects born on 2005 at HRH MSMC, in Nakhon Nayok. The author used means of weight and length at 1-6 months, 7-12 months, 13-18 months, 19-24 months and 37-48 months and then constructed a weight-for-length Z score using the LMS method. The difference in Z score between each age group was compared, to predict overweight and obesity at 37-48 months of age. A defined cut-off point, with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, p-value < 0.05 was regarded as significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 227 from newborns were included in the present study. The prevalence of overweight and obesity at 3-4 years of age was 14%. The cut-off point for accelerated growth was > or = 0.62SD or > or = 23.2 percentiles (Z score changes from 7-12 months to 13-18 months), with a positive predictive value of 40%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The accelerated change of weight-for-length at 7-12 to 13-18 months of age can be used to predict overweight and obesity at 3-4 years of age at HRH MSMC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. kittipoo@swu.ac.th
authors.forename: Kittipong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kongsomboon
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology