Body composition in early childhood : Parental, fetal, postnata and genetic determinants of fat, lean and bone mass. The Generation R Study

Th e prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has increased dramatically in developed countries over the past two decades. Childhood obesity is associated with short-term morbidity such as asthma and psychological problems and with an increased risk for chronic morbidity and mortality in adulthood. Previous studies have shown that both parental anthropometrics and anthropometrics at birth are associated with obesity in childhood. Birth weight is strongly associated with perinatal morbidity and mortality. Low birth weight is related to impaired growth and development, and increased mortality in infancy. High birth weight is related to complications during delivery (such as shoulder dystocia and caesarean sections) and to obesity during child- and adulthood. Low birth weight seems also to be associated with diseases in adulthood such as obesity in later life. Determinants of adult disease have been suggested to be: parental anthropometrics, fetal growth and genetics. Until now birth weight was used as a proxy for fetal growth. Although birth weight is the result of fetal growth during pregnancy, diff erent fetal growth patterns may lead to diff erent health consequences

Insulin VNTR and IGF-1 promoter region polymorphisms are not associated with body composition in early childhood: The generation R study

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the associations between insulin gene variable number of tandem repeats (INS VNTR) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene promoter region polymorphisms with body composition in early childhood. Methods: This study was embedded in an ongoing prospective cohort study. Growth in early childhood (body mass index, total subcutaneous fat mass and waist-hip ratio) was assessed at birth and at the ages of 6 weeks and 24 months. DNA for genotyping was available in 738 children. Results: The genotype distribution of the INS VNTR gene was I/I 50.4%, I/III 40.4%, and III/III 9.2%. IGF1 genotypes were categorized in the following categories based on their 192-bp allele: homozygous (wild-type) 43.1%, heterozygous 45.8%, and noncarrier 11.2%. No differences were found in body mass index, total subcutaneous fat mass and waist-hip ratio in early childhood between the three groups for both the INS VNTR and IGF1 genotypes. We also did not find interactions between these genotypes and gender or birth weight on the effects of body composition measures. Conclusions: Our results do not support previous studies showing associations between INS VNTR and IGF1 promoter region polymorphisms with body composition in early childhood. Copyrigh

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and subcutaneous fat mass in early childhood. The Generation R Study

Maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of obesity in the offspring. Not much is known about the associations with other measures of body composition. We assessed the associations of maternal smoking during pregnancy with the development of subcutaneous fat mass measured as peripheral and central skinfold thickness measurements in early childhood, in a population-based prospective cohort study from early fetal life onward in the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The study was performed in 907 mothers and their children at the ages of 1.5, 6 and 24 months. As compared to non-smoking mothers, mothers who continued smoking during pregnancy were more likely to have a younger age and a lower educational level. Their children had a lower birth weight, higher risk of small size for gestational age and were breastfed for a shorter duration (P-values <0.01). We did not observe differences in peripheral, central and total subcutaneous fat mass between the offspring of non-smoking mothers, mothers who smoked in first trimester only and mothers who continued smoking during pregnancy (P > 0.05). Also, the reported number of cigarettes smoked by mothers in both first and third trimester of pregnancy were not associated with peripheral, central and total subcutaneous fat mass in the offspring at the ages of 1.5, 6 and 24 months. Our findings suggest that fetal exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy does not influence subcutaneous fat mass in early childhood. Follow-up studies are needed in children at older ages and to identify associations of maternal smoking during pregnancy with other measures of body composition