Rapid weight gain during infancy and subsequent adiposity: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of evidence

The contribution of rapid weight gain (RWG) during infancy to later adiposity has received considerable investigation. The present systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to update the literature on association between RWG and subsequent adiposity outcomes. Electronic searches were undertaken in EMBASE, MEDLINE, psycINFO, PubMed and ScienceDirect. Studies that examined the associations between RWG (a change in weight z‐scores > 0.67) during infancy (from birth to age 2 years) and subsequent adiposity outcomes were included. Random effects meta‐analysis was conducted to obtain the weighted‐pooled estimates of the odds of overweight/obesity for those with RWG. Seventeen studies were eligible for inclusion with the majority of studies (15/17) being of high/acceptable quality and reporting positive associations between RWG during infancy and later adiposity outcomes. RWG in infancy was associated with overweight/obesity from childhood to adulthood (pooled odds ratio = 3.66, 95% confidence interval: 2.59–5.17, I2 > 75%). Subgroup analyses revealed that RWG during infancy was associated with higher odds of overweight/obesity in childhood than in adulthood, and RWG from birth to 1 year was associated with higher odds of overweight/obesity than RWG from birth to 2 years. The present study supports that RWG during infancy is a significant predictor of adiposity in later life.

[1]  C. Fall,et al.  Weight Gain and Height Growth during Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence as Predictors of Adult Cardiovascular Risk , 2017, The Journal of pediatrics.

[2]  P. Shekelle,et al.  Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015: elaboration and explanation , 2016, British Medical Journal.

[3]  J. W. Woo Baidal,et al.  Risk Factors for Childhood Obesity in the First 1,000 Days: A Systematic Review. , 2016, American journal of preventive medicine.

[4]  Duolao Wang,et al.  Rapid Infancy Weight Gain and 7- to 9-year Childhood Obesity Risk , 2016, Medicine.

[5]  H. Nanri,et al.  Rapid weight gain during early childhood is associated with overweight in preadolescence: a longitudinal study in Japan. , 2016, Child: care, health and development.

[6]  B. Horta,et al.  Associations of birth weight, linear growth and relative weight gain throughout life with abdominal fat depots in adulthood: the 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study , 2015, International Journal of Obesity.

[7]  Abdullah Al Mamun,et al.  Rapid growth in early childhood associated with young adult overweight and obesity – evidence from a community based cohort study , 2015, Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition.

[8]  D. Dunger,et al.  Even transient rapid infancy weight gain is associated with higher BMI in young adults and earlier menarche , 2015, International Journal of Obesity.

[9]  P. Shekelle,et al.  Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement , 2015, Systematic Reviews.

[10]  S. H. Eickmann,et al.  The influence of low birth weight body proportionality and postnatal weight gain on anthropometric measures of 8-year-old children: a cohort study in Northeast Brazil , 2014, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[11]  R. Jayawardena,et al.  Early life predictors of preschool overweight and obesity: a case–control study in Sri Lanka , 2013, BMC Public Health.

[12]  S. Weng,et al.  Estimating Overweight Risk in Childhood From Predictors During Infancy , 2013, Pediatrics.

[13]  E. Demerath,et al.  Systematic Examination of Infant Size and Growth Metrics as Risk Factors for Overweight in Young Adulthood , 2013, PloS one.

[14]  Albert Hofman,et al.  Small and large size for gestational age at birth, infant growth, and childhood overweight , 2013, Obesity.

[15]  E. Denney-Wilson,et al.  Describing the growth and rapid weight gain of urban Australian Aboriginal infants , 2013, Journal of paediatrics and child health.

[16]  S. van Buuren,et al.  Growth during infancy and childhood, and adiposity at age 16 years: ages 2 to 7 years are pivotal. , 2013, The Journal of pediatrics.

[17]  Katsuyasu 勝康 Kouda 甲田,et al.  Association of Rapid Weight Gain During Early Childhood With Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Japanese Adolescents , 2012, Journal of epidemiology.

[18]  A. Hofman,et al.  Parental, fetal, and infant risk factors for preschool overweight: the Generation R Study , 2013, Pediatric Research.

[19]  M. Jarvelin,et al.  Prediction of childhood obesity by infancy weight gain: an individual-level meta-analysis. , 2012, Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology.

[20]  M. Blössner,et al.  Global prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among preschool children. , 2010, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[21]  F. Biro,et al.  Childhood obesity and adult morbidities. , 2010, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[22]  N. Stettler,et al.  Early growth patterns and long-term obesity risk , 2010, Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care.

[23]  M. Gillman.  Early infancy as a critical period for development of obesity and related conditions. , 2010, Nestle Nutrition workshop series. Paediatric programme.

[24]  A. Lucas.  Growth and later health: a general perspective. , 2010, Nestle Nutrition workshop series. Paediatric programme.

[25]  Remy A. Hirasing,et al.  The Terneuzen Birth Cohort: BMI Changes between 2 and 6 Years Correlate Strongest with Adult Overweight , 2010, PloS one.

[26]  T. Cole,et al.  Risk factors for rapid weight gain in preschool children: findings from a UK-wide prospective study , 2010, International Journal of Obesity.

[27]  L. Adair.  Developing world perspective: the importance of growth for short-term health. , 2010, Nestle Nutrition workshop series. Paediatric programme.

[28]  C. Victora,et al.  Growth from birth to adulthood and abdominal obesity in a Brazilian birth cohort , 2009, International Journal of Obesity.

[29]  K. Ellis.  Body composition in infancy: impact on health later in life. , 2010, Nestle Nutrition workshop series. Paediatric programme.

[30]  E. Demerath,et al.  Rapid Postnatal Weight Gain and Visceral Adiposity in Adulthood: The Fels Longitudinal Study , 2009, Obesity.

[31]  D. Wakefield,et al.  Rapid Weight Gain During the First Year of Life Predicts Obesity in 2–3 Year Olds from a Low-income, Minority Population , 2009, Journal of Community Health.

[32]  Wei Zhang,et al.  The incidence of co-morbidities related to obesity and overweight: A systematic review and meta-analysis , 2009, BMC public health.

[33]  Kazutoshi Nakamura,et al.  Unhealthy maternal lifestyle leads to rapid infant weight gain: prevention of future chronic diseases. , 2009, The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine.

[34]  C. Craig,et al.  Tracking of obesity and physical activity from childhood to adulthood: the Physical Activity Longitudinal Study. , 2009, International journal of pediatric obesity : IJPO : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[35]  I. Akaboshi,et al.  Taller stature after postnatal rapid weight gain in early infancy predicts overweight status at age 3 , 2008, Acta paediatrica.

[36]  Kent L Thornburg,et al.  Effect of in Utero and Early-life Conditions on Adult Health and Disease Epidemiol Ogic a Nd Clinic a L Observations , 2022 .

[37]  Douglas G. Altman,et al.  Metan: Fixed- and Random-Effects Meta-Analysis , 2008 .

[38]  L. Hui,et al.  Birth weight, infant growth, and childhood body mass index: Hong Kong's children of 1997 birth cohort. , 2008, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[39]  C. Hornberg,et al.  How early dietary factors modify the effect of rapid weight gain in infancy on subsequent body-composition development in term children whose birth weight was appropriate for gestational age. , 2007, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[40]  M. Lentze,et al.  Rapid growth among term children whose birth weight was appropriate for gestational age has a longer lasting effect on body fat percentage than on body mass index. , 2006, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[41]  K. Ong,et al.  Rapid infancy weight gain and subsequent obesity: Systematic reviews and hopeful suggestions , 2006, Acta paediatrica.

[42]  D. Dunger,et al.  Dietary Energy Intake at the Age of 4 Months Predicts Postnatal Weight Gain and Childhood Body Mass Index , 2006, Pediatrics.

[43]  J. Kleijnen,et al.  Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity , 2005, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[44]  C. Victora,et al.  Rapid growth in infancy and childhood and obesity in later life – a systematic review , 2005, Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[45]  Richard W Jones,et al.  Opposing influences of prenatal and postnatal weight gain on adrenarche in normal boys and girls. , 2004, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[46]  Jonathan A C Sterne,et al.  Funnel Plots in Meta-analysis , 2004 .

[47]  S. Chinn.  A simple method for converting an odds ratio to effect size for use in meta-analysis. , 2000, Statistics in medicine.

[48]  D. Dunger,et al.  Association between postnatal catch-up growth and obesity in childhood: prospective cohort study , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[49]  T. Byers,et al.  Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature. , 1993, Preventive medicine.

[50]  R. Mccance,et al.  The effect of finite periods of undernutrition at different ages on the composition and subsequent development of the rat , 1963, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.