Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity

doi:10.1136/bmj.38586.411273.E0

BMJ 2005;331:929 (22 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.38586.411273.E0 (published 14 October 2005)

Paper

Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity

Janis Baird, research fellow¹, David Fisher, research assistant¹, Patricia Lucas, lecturer², Jos Kleijnen, director³, Helen Roberts, professor of child health⁴, Catherine Law, reader in children's health⁵

¹ MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, ² School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TZ, ³ Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, York YO10 5DD, ⁴ Child Health Research and Policy Unit, City University, London EC1Y 4TY, ⁵ Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH

Correspondence to: J Baird jb{at}mrc.soton.ac.uk

Objectives To assess the association between infant size orgrowth and subsequent obesity and to determine if any associationhas been stable over time.

Design Systematic review.

Data sources Medline, Embase, bibliographies of included studies,contact with first authors of included studies and other experts.

Inclusion criteria Studies that assessed the relation betweeninfant size or growth during the first two years of life andsubsequent obesity.

Main outcome measure Obesity at any age after infancy.

Results 24 studies met the inclusion criteria (22 cohort andtwo case-control studies). Of these, 18 assessed the relationbetween infant size and subsequent obesity, most showing thatinfants who were defined as "obese" or who were at the highestend of the distribution for weight or body mass index were atincreased risk of obesity. Compared with non-obese infants,in those who had been obese odds ratios or relative risks forsubsequent obesity ranged from 1.35 to 9.38. Ten studies assessedthe relation of infant growth with subsequent obesity and mostshowed that infants who grew more rapidly were at increasedrisk of obesity. Compared with other infants, in infants withrapid growth odds ratios and relative risks of later obesityranged from 1.17 to 5.70. Associations were consistent for obesityat different ages and for people born over a period from 1927to 1994.

Conclusions Infants who are at the highest end of the distributionfor weight or body mass index or who grow rapidly during infancyare at increased risk of subsequent obesity.

Add to CiteULike CiteULike Add to Complore Complore Add to Connotea Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us Add to Digg Digg Add to Reddit Reddit Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon Add to Technorati Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Hit parade
BMJ 2005 331: 1277. [Extract] [Full Text]

Obesity, like atherosclerosis, starts early in life: Tsung O Cheng
BMJ 2005 331: 1145. [Extract] [Full Text]

Obesity begins in infancy
BMJ 2005 331: 0. [Full Text] [PDF]

Early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: cohort study: John J Reilly, Julie Armstrong, Ahmad R Dorosty, Pauline M Emmett, A Ness, I Rogers, Colin Steer, Andrea Sherriff for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Study Team
BMJ 2005 330: 1357. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Fetal and early life growth and body mass index from birth to early adulthood in 1958 British cohort: longitudinal study: Tessa J Parsons, Chris Power, and Orly Manor
BMJ 2001 323: 1331-1335. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey: Tim J Cole, Mary C Bellizzi, Katherine M Flegal, and William H Dietz
BMJ 2000 320: 1240. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Senese, L. C., Almeida, N. D., Fath, A. K., Smith, B. T., Loucks, E. B. (2009). Associations Between Childhood Socioeconomic Position and Adulthood Obesity. Epidemiol Rev 31: 21-51 [Abstract] [Full text]
Dunn, G. A., Bale, T. L. (2009). Maternal High-Fat Diet Promotes Body Length Increases and Insulin Insensitivity in Second-Generation Mice. Endocrinology 150: 4999-5009 [Abstract] [Full text]
Casazza, K., Thomas, O. (2009). Do Dietary Modifications Made Prior to Pubertal Maturation Have the Potential to Decrease Obesity Later in Life? A Developmental Perspective. ICAN: Infant, Child, & Adolescent Nutrition 1: 271-281 [Abstract]
Skidmore, P. M., Cassidy, A., Swaminathan, R., Richards, J B., Mangino, M., Spector, T. D, MacGregor, A. J (2009). An obesogenic postnatal environment is more important than the fetal environment for the development of adult adiposity: a study of female twins. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 90: 401-406 [Abstract] [Full text]
(2009). Mothers' experiences of bottle-feeding: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies. Arch. Dis. Child. 94: 596-601
Griffiths, L J, Smeeth, L, Hawkins, S S., Cole, T J, Dezateux, C (2009). Effects of infant feeding practice on weight gain from birth to 3 years. Arch. Dis. Child. 94: 577-582 [Abstract] [Full text]
Mesman, I, Roseboom, T J, Bonsel, G J, Gemke, R J, van der Wal, M F, Vrijkotte, T G M (2009). Maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index explains infant's weight and BMI at 14 months: results from a multi-ethnic birth cohort study. Arch. Dis. Child. 94: 587-595 [Abstract] [Full text]
Ong, K. K, Langkamp, M., Ranke, M. B, Whitehead, K., Hughes, I. A, Acerini, C. L, Dunger, D. B (2009). Insulin-like growth factor I concentrations in infancy predict differential gains in body length and adiposity: the Cambridge Baby Growth Study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 90: 156-161 [Abstract] [Full text]
Koletzko, B., von Kries, R., Closa, R., Escribano, J., Scaglioni, S., Giovannini, M., Beyer, J., Demmelmair, H., Gruszfeld, D., Dobrzanska, A., Sengier, A., Langhendries, J.-P., Rolland Cachera, M.-F., Grote, V. (2009). Lower protein in infant formula is associated with lower weight up to age 2 y: a randomized clinical trial. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89: 1836-1845 [Abstract] [Full text]
Kalhan, S. C (2009). Optimal protein intake in healthy infants. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89: 1719-1720 [Full text]
Adair, L. S, Martorell, R., Stein, A. D, Hallal, P. C, Sachdev, H. S, Prabhakaran, D., Wills, A. K, Norris, S. A, Dahly, D. L, Lee, N. R, Victora, C. G (2009). Size at birth, weight gain in infancy and childhood, and adult blood pressure in 5 low- and middle-income-country cohorts: when does weight gain matter?. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89: 1383-1392 [Abstract] [Full text]
Koletzko, B., von Kries, R., Monasterolo, R. C., Subias, J. E., Scaglioni, S., Giovannini, M., Beyer, J., Demmelmair, H., Anton, B., Gruszfeld, D., Dobrzanska, A., Sengier, A., Langhendries, J.-P., Rolland Cachera, M.-F., Grote, V. (2009). Can infant feeding choices modulate later obesity risk?. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89: 1502S-1508S [Abstract] [Full text]
Taveras, E. M., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Belfort, M. B., Kleinman, K. P., Oken, E., Gillman, M. W. (2009). Weight Status in the First 6 Months of Life and Obesity at 3 Years of Age. Pediatrics 123: 1177-1183 [Abstract] [Full text]
Butte, N. F. (2009). Impact of Infant Feeding Practices on Childhood Obesity. J. Nutr. 139: 412S-416S [Abstract] [Full text]
Fall, C. H.D., Sachdev, H. S., Osmond, C., Lakshmy, R., Biswas, S. D., Prabhakaran, D., Tandon, N., Ramji, S., Reddy, K. S., Barker, D. J.P., Bhargava, S. K. (2008). Adult Metabolic Syndrome and Impaired Glucose Tolerance Are Associated With Different Patterns of BMI Gain During Infancy: Data from the New Delhi birth cohort. Diabetes Care 31: 2349-2356 [Abstract] [Full text]
Li, R., Fein, S. B., Grummer-Strawn, L. M. (2008). Association of Breastfeeding Intensity and Bottle-Emptying Behaviors at Early Infancy With Infants' Risk for Excess Weight at Late Infancy. Pediatrics 122: S77-S84 [Abstract] [Full text]
Belfort, M. B., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Kleinman, K. P., Oken, E., Gillman, M. W. (2008). Infant Growth and Child Cognition at 3 Years of Age. Pediatrics 122: e689-e695 [Abstract] [Full text]
Kim, J., Peterson, K. E. (2008). Association of Infant Child Care With Infant Feeding Practices and Weight Gain Among US Infants. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 162: 627-633 [Abstract] [Full text]
Wright, C, Lakshman, R, Emmett, P, Ong, K K (2008). Implications of adopting the WHO 2006 Child Growth Standard in the UK: two prospective cohort studies. Arch. Dis. Child. 93: 566-569 [Abstract] [Full text]
Hui, L. L., Schooling, C. M., Leung, S. S. L., Mak, K. H., Ho, L. M., Lam, T. H., Leung, G. M. (2008). Birth Weight, Infant Growth, and Childhood Body Mass Index: Hong Kong's Children of 1997 Birth Cohort. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 162: 212-218 [Abstract] [Full text]
McCarthy, A., Hughes, R., Tilling, K., Davies, D., Davey Smith, G., Ben-Shlomo, Y. (2007). Birth weight; postnatal, infant, and childhood growth; and obesity in young adulthood: evidence from the Barry Caerphilly Growth Study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 86: 907-913 [Abstract] [Full text]
Stettler, N. (2007). Commentary: Growing up optimally in societies undergoing the nutritional transition, public health and research challenges. Int J Epidemiol 36: 558-559 [Full text]
Scholtens, S., Gehring, U., Brunekreef, B., Smit, H. A., de Jongste, J. C., Kerkhof, M., Gerritsen, J., Wijga, A. H. (2007). Breastfeeding, Weight Gain in Infancy, and Overweight at Seven Years of Age: The Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy Birth Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol 165: 919-926 [Abstract] [Full text]
Saenger, P., Czernichow, P., Hughes, I., Reiter, E. O. (2007). Small for Gestational Age: Short Stature and Beyond. Endocr. Rev. 28: 219-251 [Abstract] [Full text]
Taylor, P. D., Poston, L. (2007). Developmental programming of obesity in mammals. Exp Physiol 92: 287-298 [Abstract] [Full text]
Lucas, P, Arai, L, Baird, J, Kleijnen, J, Law, C, Roberts, H (2007). A systematic review of lay views about infant size and growth. Arch. Dis. Child. 92: 120-127 [Abstract] [Full text]
Singhal, A., Cole, T. J., Fewtrell, M., Kennedy, K., Stephenson, T., Elias-Jones, A., Lucas, A. (2007). Promotion of Faster Weight Gain in Infants Born Small for Gestational Age: Is There an Adverse Effect on Later Blood Pressure?. Circulation 115: 213-220 [Abstract] [Full text]
Landmann, E., Geller, F., Schilling, J., Rudloff, S., Foeller-Gaudier, E., Gortner, L. (2006). Absence of the Wild-type Allele (192 Base Pairs) of a Polymorphism in the Promoter Region of the IGF-I Gene but Not a Polymorphism in the Insulin Gene Variable Number of Tandem Repeat Locus Is Associated With Accelerated Weight Gain in Infancy. Pediatrics 118: 2374-2379 [Abstract] [Full text]
Gibson, L. J, Peto, J., Warren, J. M, Silva, I. d. S. (2006). Lack of evidence on diets for obesity for children: a systematic review. Int J Epidemiol 35: 1544-1552 [Abstract] [Full text]
Garemo, M., Palsdottir, V., Strandvik, B. (2006). Metabolic markers in relation to nutrition and growth in healthy 4-y-old children in Sweden.. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 84: 1021-1026 [Abstract] [Full text]
(2005). Hit parade. BMJ 331: 1277-1277 [Full text]
Cheng, T. O (2005). Obesity, like atherosclerosis, starts early in life. BMJ 331: 1145-1145 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Breast fed overweight in babies less likely to result in childhood obesity: Penny J Barnard
bmj.com, 26 Oct 2005 [Full text]
Careless Words Can Mislead: John A Davis
bmj.com, 26 Oct 2005 [Full text]
Time to wake up to this global challenge.: sameer batra, et al.
bmj.com, 27 Oct 2005 [Full text]
Overfed babies: Tom H Hughes-Davies
bmj.com, 27 Oct 2005 [Full text]
Re: Breast fed overweight in babies less likely to result in childhood obesity: Mary G Gibbs
bmj.com, 31 Oct 2005 [Full text]
Obesity, Like Atherosclerosis, Starts Very Early In LIfe: Tsung O. Cheng
bmj.com, 1 Nov 2005 [Full text]
Never let the evidence get in the way of a good story: Charlotte M Wright
bmj.com, 8 Dec 2005 [Full text]