Disadvantaged neighborhoods, birth weight, and problem behavior in five- and six-year-old pre-school children: Evidence from a cohort born in Amsterdam

Rationale: Low birth weight has been found to increase the problem behavior of children. Yet, little attention has been given to adequately account for the impact of the child’s neighborhood on this relation. The residential neighborhood is a choice, based on factors that are usually not observed that may also influence birth weight and problem behavior. Objective: Using a model that accounts for such endogeneity of both neighborhood choice and birth weight, we have analyzed behavioral problems in 4210 pre-school children between the ages of 5 and 6, birth weight, and neighborhood status, simultaneously. Method: The data used are from the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) cohort for whom a complete prospective record of birth outcomes, pregnancy, socio-demographic characteristics, and indicators of problem behavior are available. Neighborhood data obtained from Statistics Netherlands are merged with the ABCD data file. Results: Our results suggest that ignoring endogeneity attenuates the effect of disadvantaged neighborhoods on both birth weight and problem behavior in pre-school children. Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood decreases the birth weight and increases the probability of problem behavior. Accounting for the endogeneity of neighborhood choice increases the estimated impacts (marginal effects: from − 10% to − 44% for birth weight and from 3% to 11% for problem behavior). Lower birth weight increases the probability of problem behavior, but it is only significant after adjusting for endogeneity. The coefficients of other factors have the expected associations with problem behavior. Conclusions: These significant effects of disadvantaged neighborhood on birth weight and problem behavior could inform policies and practices that improve neighborhood development for children born in Amsterdam

Maternal Triglyceride Levels during Early Pregnancy are Associated with Birth Weight and Postnatal Growth

ObjectiveTo investigate whether randomly sampled maternal total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) levels during early pregnancy are associated with birth weight (BW) and postnatal growth.Study designData were derived from the prospective Amsterdam Born Children and their Development cohort study. Randomly sampled TC and TG levels were determined in early gestation (median, 13; IQR, 12-14 weeks). Outcome measures were BW SDS and weight-for-gestational age; postnatal outcome measures were SDS in weight, length, and body mass index during the first year of life (total n = 2502).ResultsThe highest TG level was associated with a higher BW SDS (differences 0.20 ± 0.06 between highest and middle quintile; P = .002) and with a higher prevalence (13%) of an infant large for gestational age compared with middle quintile (9%; P = .04). Infants from mothers in the lowest TG quintile had lower SDS in weight, length, and body mass index until age 3 months, and displayed accelerated postnatal growth patterns. Maternal TC was not associated with BW or postnatal growth.ConclusionHigh maternal TG levels in the first term of pregnancy were associated with higher BWs and subsequently a higher occurrence of infants large for gestational age, whereas low TG levels were associated with accelerated postnatal growth

Ethnic differences in maternal underestimation of offspring's weight: the ABCD study

Objective: To determine the ethnic variation in maternal underestimation of their child's weight status and the explanatory role of socio-economic status (SES), acculturation and parental body mass index (BMI). Method: A multi-ethnic sample of 2769 normal or overweight/obese children (underweight children excluded) aged 5-7 years was examined (The Amsterdam Born Child and their Development study), comprising five ethnic subgroups: Dutch (n = 1744), African descent (n = 184), Turkish (n = 86), Moroccan (n = 161) and other non-Dutch (n 592). Data on mothers' perception of their child's weight status (5-point scale from 'too low' to 'too high'), SES, acculturation, parental BMI and the children's height and weight were collected. Underestimation was defined by comparing maternal perception with the actual weight status of her child (International Obesity Task Force guidelines). Ethnic differences in underestimation were calculated in the normal weight and overweight/obese categories. Results: Underestimation ranged from 3.6 (Dutch) to 15.7% (Moroccan) in normal-weight children, and from 73.0 (Dutch) to 92.3% (Turkish) in overweight/obese children. After correction for ethnic differences in child's BMI, higher odds ratios (ORs) for underestimation were found in the Turkish (normal weight: OR 6.83; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.33-20.05 and overweight: OR 2.80; 95% CI 1.12-6.98) and Moroccan (normal weight: OR 11.55; 95% CI 5.28-25.26) groups (reference is the Dutch group). Maternal educational level and immigrant generation largely explained the ethnic differences, with a minor contribution of maternal age. After correction, ORs remained higher in the Moroccan group (OR 4.37; 95% CI 1.79-10.62) among the normal-weight children. Conclusion: Mothers frequently underestimate the actual weight status of their child, especially mothers from Turkish or Moroccan origin. Having a lower SES, being first-generation immigrant and a young mother are important determinants in explaining these differences. As weight perceptions may affect weight gain and almost all mothers of overweight/obese children underestimate their child's weight, health professionals should help mothers (particularly those from ethnic minority groups) to acquire a realistic perception of their children's weight status. International Journal of Obesity (2012) 36, 53-60; doi:10.1038/ijo.2011.199; published online 18 October 201

Associations of infant feeding and timing of linear growth and relative weight gain during early life with childhood body composition

Background: growth and feeding during infancy have been associated with later life body mass index. However, the associations of infant feeding, linear growth and weight gain relative to linear growth with separate components of body composition remain unclear.Methods: of 5551 children with collected growth and infant-feeding data in a prospective cohort study (Amsterdam Born Children and their Development), body composition measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis at the age of 5–6 years was available for 2227 children. We assessed how feeding (duration of full breastfeeding and timing of introduction of complementary feeding) and conditional variables representing linear growth and relative weight gain were associated with childhood fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM).Results: birth weight was positively associated with both FFM and FM in childhood, and more strongly with FFM than FM. Faster linear growth and faster relative weight gain at all ages in infancy were positively associated with childhood FFM and FM. The associations with FM were stronger for relative weight gain than for linear growth (FM z score: β coefficient 0.23 (95% con 0.19 to 0.26), P<0.001 and 0.14 (0.11 to 0.17), P<0.001 per s.d. change in relative weight gain and linear growth between 1 and 3 months, respectively). Compared with full breastfeeding <1 month, full breastfeeding >6 months was associated with lower FM (FM z score: -0.17 (-0.28 to -0.05), P=0.005) and lower FFM (FFM z score: -0.13 (-0.23 to -0.03), P=0.015), as was the introduction of complementary feeding >6 months (FM z score: -0.22 (-0.38 to -0.07), P=0.004), compared with <4 months.Conclusions: faster infant weight gain is associated with a healthier childhood body composition when it is caused by faster linear growth. Full breastfeeding >6 months and introduction of complementary feeding >6 months are associated with lower childhood FM

Fish intake during pregnancy, fetal growth, and gestational length in 19 European birth cohort studies

Background: fish is a rich source of essential nutrients for fetal development, but in contrast, it is also a well-known route of exposure to environmental pollutants.Objective: we assessed whether fish intake during pregnancy is associated with fetal growth and the length of gestation in a panel of European birth cohort studies.Design: the study sample of 151,880 mother-child pairs was derived from 19 population-based European birth cohort studies. Individual data from cohorts were pooled and harmonized. Adjusted cohort-specific effect estimates were combined by using a random- and fixed-effects meta-analysis.Results: women who ate fish >1 time/wk during pregnancy had lower risk of preterm birth than did women who rarely ate fish (?1 time/wk); the adjusted RR of fish intake >1 but <3 times/wk was 0.87 (95% CI: 0.82, 0.92), and for intake ?3 times/wk, the adjusted RR was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.96). Women with a higher intake of fish during pregnancy gave birth to neonates with a higher birth weight by 8.9 g (95% CI: 3.3, 14.6 g) for >1 but <3 times/wk and 15.2 g (95% CI: 8.9, 21.5 g) for ?3 times/wk independent of gestational age. The association was greater in smokers and in overweight or obese women. Findings were consistent across cohorts.Conclusion: this large, international study indicates that moderate fish intake during pregnancy is associated with lower risk of preterm birth and a small but significant increase in birth weigh