Early life risk factors and their cumulative effects as predictors of overweight in Spanish children

Objectives: To explore early life risk factors of overweight/obesity at age 6 years and their cumulative effects on overweight/obesity at ages 2, 4 and 6 years. Methods: Altogether 1031 Spanish children were evaluated at birth and during a 6-year follow-up. Early life risk factors included: parental overweight/obesity, parental origin/ethnicity, maternal smoking during pregnancy, gestational weight gain, gestational age, birth weight, caesarean section, breastfeeding practices and rapid infant weight gain collected via hospital records. Cumulative effects were assessed by adding up those early risk factors that significantly increased the risk of overweight/obesity. We conducted binary logistic regression models. Results: Rapid infant weight gain (OR 2.29, 99% CI 1.54–3.42), maternal overweight/obesity (OR 1.93, 99% CI 1.27–2.92), paternal overweight/obesity (OR 2.17, 99% CI 1.44–3.28), Latin American/Roma origin (OR 3.20, 99% CI 1.60–6.39) and smoking during pregnancy (OR 1.61, 99% CI 1.01–2.59) remained significant after adjusting for confounders. A higher number of early life risk factors accumulated was associated with overweight/obesity at age 6 years but not at age 2 and 4 years. Conclusions: Rapid infant weight gain, parental overweight/obesity, maternal smoking and origin/ethnicity predict childhood overweight/obesity and present cumulative effects. Monitoring children with rapid weight gain and supporting a healthy parental weight are important for childhood obesity prevention

Quantitative trait loci of tolerance to waterlogging in a European Oak (<em>Quercus Robur</em> L.): physiological relevance and temporal effect patterns

Quercus robur L. is a mid-European broadleaved tree species that grows readily on temporary waterlogged soils. An experiment aiming to identify potential markers of tolerance to waterlogging in this species and to assess the degree of genetic control over the corresponding traits was conducted. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were assessed in an F1 progeny for responses to waterlogging, and the relevance of the observed traits as markers of tolerance was investigated using a precise description of the time course of their expression. Five significant QTL involved in the response to waterlogging were identified. In particular, QTL were detected for the development of hypertrophied lenticels and for the degree of leaf epinasty, but not for the formation of adventitious roots.A multi-environment QTL model allowed a detailed description of the time course (7 weeks) of the allelic substitution effect of some of these QTL. Correlation clustering identified significant clusters of QTL, at inter-trait as well as at intra-trait level. These clusters suggest the occurrence of a genetically controlled response cascade to waterlogging