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

Fetal and Postnatal Growth and Body Composition at 6 Months of Age

Objectives: The objectives of the study was to examine which parental, fetal, and postnatal characteristics are associated with fat and lean mass at the age of 6 months and examine the effect of growth (catch-down, catch-up) in fetal life and early infancy on fat and lean mass. Design: This study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a prospective cohort study from early fetal life onward. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 252 infants at 6 months. Parental, fetal, and postnatal data were collected by physical and fetal ultrasound examinations and questionnaires. Results: Children with fetal catch-up in weight (gain in weight SD score >0.67) in the second trimester tended to have a higher fat mass percentage [FM(%)] at 6 months of age, whereas children with fetal catch-down in weight had a lower FM(%) compared with nonchangers. In the third trimester, both catch-up and catch-down in weight were associated with an increase in FM(%) at 6 months. Children with catch-down in the third trimester had a greater risk for postnatal catch-up in weight greater than 0.67 SD score. Birth weight and weight at 6 wk were positively associated with fat mass at 6 months. Postnatal catch-up in weight within 6 wk after birth had the highest association with total and truncal FM(%) at 6 months. Total and truncal FM were higher in girls. Conclusion: Catch-down in weight in the third trimester was strongly associated with postnatal catch-up within 6 wk after birth, and both were associated with an increase in fat mass at the age of 6 months. Our study shows that fetal as well as postnatal growth patterns are associated with body composition in early childhood. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 94: 2023-2030, 2009