Early rapid weight gain, parental body mass index and the association with an increased waist-to-height ratio at 5 years of age.

Abstract

Background/objectivesObesity-related adverse health consequences are closely associated with abdominal obesity. Risk factors for overweight and obesity have been studied but there is a lack of information regarding risk factors for abdominal obesity, especially in the preschool population. The aim of the present study was to examine early life risk factors for an increased waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in children at five years of age and, in addition, to investigate if these risk factors also were associated with overweight or obesity.Subjects/methodsThe study population comprised 1,540 children from a population-based longitudinal birth cohort study that included 2,666 Swedish children. The children were included if they had complete growth data for the analyses used in this study. Children were classified as having WHtR standard deviation scores (SDS) ≥ 1 or ResultsAt five years of age, 15% of the children had WHtRSDS ≥ 1 and 11% had overweight or obesity. In multivariable analyses, rapid weight gain (RWG) during 0-6 months (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.23-2.95, p = 0.004), maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (1.06, 1.01-1.11, p = 0.019) and paternal BMI (1.11, 1.01-1.21, p = 0.028) were associated with WHtRSDS ≥ 1. RWG during 0-6 months (2.53, 1.53-4.20, pConclusionsEarly risk factors, including rapid weight gain, are associated with increased WHtRSDS and overweight or obesity at 5 years of age. Preventive interventions should target early RWG and parental overweight and obesity.