Infant overweight as early marker of childhood overweight in Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate infant overweight and rapid weight gain as predictors of overweight and adiposity in childhood.


METHODS
Prospective, longitudinal birth cohort following 153 low-income Brazilian children. Weight, length, middle upper arm circumference (MUAC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) were measured on enrolment and 6-monthly for 18 months. Anthropometric z-scores were calculated.


RESULTS
Infants with overweight were >5 times likely to have MUAC z-score >2, >6 times likely to have weight-for-height/length z-score >2 and >3 times likely to have TSF z-score >2 during childhood. Children with more than two overweight episodes were 27.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.1-87.9] times more likely to have MUAC z-score >2 and 13.8 (95% CI 4.4-43.9) times more likely to have TSF z-score >2 in childhood. Rapid weight gain increased 10.7 (95% CI 2.3-50.0) times the risk of childhood overweight.


CONCLUSIONS
Infant overweight and rapid weight gain predict overweight and adiposity in childhood among low-income children.
Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, Brazil, Hospital Universitário, Núcleo de Pós-Graduação em Medicina. Rua Cláudio Batista S/N, Sanatório. CEP: 49065-000.
Anne
A
Jardim-Botelho
Ricardo Queiroz
RQ
Gurgel
Roberta
R
Petrucci
Claudimary Bispo dos
CB
Santos
Adrianne Bispo
AB
Pereira
Samara de Oliveira
Sde O
Xavier
Laís Desidério de
LD
Souza
Luis Eduardo
LE
Cuevas
D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*
adiposity; childhood overweight; cohort; infancy; weight gain