144682 - determinants of infant adiposity.pdf (299.03 kB)
Determinants of infant adiposity across the first 6 months of life: Evidence from the Baby-bod study
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 23:41 authored by Manoja HerathManoja Herath, Kiran AhujaKiran Ahuja, Jeffrey BeckettJeffrey Beckett, Sisitha JayasingheSisitha Jayasinghe, Nuala ByrneNuala Byrne, Andrew HillsAndrew HillsExcess adiposity in infancy may predispose individuals to obesity later in life. The literature on determinants of adiposity in infants is equivocal. In this longitudinal cohort study, we investigated pre-pregnancy, prenatal and postnatal determinants of different adiposity indices in infants, i.e., fat mass (FM), percent FM (%FM), fat mass index (FMI) and log-log index (FM/FFMp ), from birth to 6 months, using linear mixed-effects regression. Body composition was measured in 322, 174 and 109 infants at birth and 3 and 6 months afterwards, respectively, utilising air displacement plethysmography. Positive associations were observed between gestation length and infant FM, maternal self-reported pre-pregnancy body mass index and infant %FM, and parity and infant %FM and FMI at birth. Surprisingly, maternal intake of iron supplements during pregnancy was associated with infant FM, %FM and FMI at 3 months and FM/FFMp at 6 months. Male infant sex and formula feeding were negatively associated with all adiposity indices at 6 months. In conclusion, pre-pregnancy and pregnancy factors influence adiposity during early life, and any unfavourable impacts may be modulated postnatally via infant feeding practices. Moreover, as these associations are dependent on the adiposity indices used, it is crucial that researchers use conceptually and statistically robust approaches such as FM/FFMp.
History
Publication title
Journal of Clinical MedicineVolume
10Issue
8Pagination
1-14ISSN
2077-0383Department/School
School of Health SciencesPublisher
MDPI AGPlace of publication
SwitzerlandRights statement
Copyright 2021 the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Repository Status
- Open