Association between rapid weight gain in early years and subsequent adiposity indices in Portuguese children aged 3 to 5 years

Carolina Santiago-Vieira; Cristina Padez; Leah Li; Rita de Cássia Ribeiro Silva; Daniela Rodrigues; Augusta Gama; Aristides Machado-Rodrigues; Helena Nogueira; Maria Raquel Silva; Gustavo Velasquez-Melendez

doi:10.14195/2182-7982_40_6

Authors

Carolina Santiago-Vieira School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Center of Data and Knowledge Integration for Health, Fiocruz Bahia
Cristina Padez Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra
Leah Li Population, Policy, and Practice Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3603-6457
Rita de Cássia Ribeiro Silva Center of Data and Knowledge Integration for Health, Fiocruz Bahia, School of Nutrition, Federal University of Bahia
Daniela Rodrigues Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4559-4303
Augusta Gama Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2143-8602
Aristides Machado-Rodrigues Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7169-8034
Helena Nogueira Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Geography and Tourism, University of Coimbra https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5724-3538
Maria Raquel Silva Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Faculty of Health Sciences, University Fernando Pessoa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8170-3119
Gustavo Velasquez-Melendez School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8349-5042

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/2182-7982_40_6

Keywords:

Pediatric obesity, weight gain, body weight, skinfold thickness

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the association of rapid weight gain (RWG) in early years with subsequent measures of adiposity in Portuguese children. We used data from a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of 5359 Portuguese children aged 3 to 5 years in 2009-10. Measures of adiposity indices included age-specific body mass index z-score (BAZ) and skinfold (suprailiac, subscapular and triceps) thickness. RWG was defined as the difference between z-scores of weightfor- age and birthweight > 0.67 Standard Deviation. Quantile regression models were used to estimate the difference in the 50th (median) and 90th (upper end) percentiles of each measure by RWG. Rapid weight gain in early years (62.5% of children) was associated with greater levels of BAZ and skinfold thickness measures, both for the median and 90th percentile. For the median, the difference was 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.16) for BAZ, 1.11 mm (95% CI: 0.98-1.25) for suprailiac, 0.99 mm (95% CI: 0.87-1.11) for subscapular and 1.34 mm (95% CI: 1.11-1.57) for triceps skinfolds thickness after the adjustments. The increases in the 90th percentiles of adiposity measures associated with RWG were greater than those in median levels. RWG in childhood was associated with increased levels of adiposity measures, independent of prenatal and childhood factors.