The Developmental Origins of Children's Energy Balance-Related Behavior and Physical Fitness

Gemke, R.J.B.J. [Promotor]Chin A Paw, J.M.M. [Promotor]Vrijkotte, T.G.M. [Copromotor

Study protocol: the relation of birth weight and infant growth trajectories with physical fitness, physical activity and sedentary behavior at 8-9 years of age - the ABCD study

BACKGROUND: Low birth weight and accelerated infant growth have been identified as independent risk factors for childhood and adult obesity and cardiovascular disease. This led to the ‘Developmental Origins of Health and Disease’ (DOHaD) hypothesis, stating that environmental factors during pregnancy and early postnatal life affect disease risk in later life. There is growing evidence that perinatal factors may influence adult health through the programming of energy balance regulation, including sedentary behavior and physical activity. The present study focuses on the influence of birth weight and infant growth on physical fitness, physical activity and sedentary behavior in 8-9 year old children, as this might partly explain the higher obesity and cardiovascular risk associated with low birth weight and accelerated infant growth. In addition, this study provides the opportunity for a validation study of a linguistic and cross-cultural translated physical activity questionnaire compared to accelerometer data. This article describes the study protocol for this study. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a study embedded in the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD) birth cohort. In 200 children of Dutch ethnicity, physical fitness, physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed at age 8-9. We measured aerobic fitness using the 20 meter multistage shuttle run test, and neuromuscular fitness using the standing broad jump and handgrip strength test. Sedentary behavior and physical activity levels were measured using accelerometry. All children also completed a translated physical activity questionnaire, the scores of which will be compared to accelerometry data to assess the construct validity of the questionnaire in Dutch school-aged children. DISCUSSION: This study will be the first population-based prospective cohort study to address the association of both prenatal and postnatal growth with physical fitness and objectively-assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior. This will contribute to a better understanding of the way perinatal growth relate to lifestyle and obesity in later life. The results may guide both future studies in the field of DOHaD, and public health strategies in the prevention of childhood obesity

The association of birth weight and infant growth with physical fitness at 8-9 years of age-the ABCD study

Low birth weight and accelerated infant growth are independently associated with childhood obesity. We hypothesized that birth weight and infant growth are associated with physical fitness in childhood, and thereby could act as a link in the developmental origins of obesity. In addition, we assessed whether these associations were mediated by fat-free mass (FFM), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) or sedentary behavior (SB). We assessed physical fitness in 194 children of Dutch ethnicity aged 8.6 (±0.35) years from the ABCD cohort. Aerobic fitness was assessed using the 20-meter multistage shuttle run test (20-m MSRT), and neuromuscular fitness using the standing broad jump (SBJ) test and hand grip strength test. MVPA and SB were measured by accelerometry, and FFM by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Low birth weight was defined as below the 10th percentile and accelerated infant growth as an s.d. score weight gain of >0.67 between birth and 12 months. Children with low birth weight and subsequent accelerated infant growth attained a lower 20-m MSRT score than the remainder of the cohort, adjusted for multiple confounders (P 75% of the association of birth weight and infant growth with hand grip strength, but FFM, MVPA and SB did not mediate the associations with 20-m MSRT. Our results indicate that low birth weight and accelerated infant growth might negatively affect childhood aerobic and neuromuscular fitness. Differences in FFM largely explain the developmental origins of neuromuscular fitness. Consequently impaired fitness may constitute a link between low birth weight, accelerated infant growth and obesity. Hence, optimization of fitness in these children may affect their obesity and cardiovascular disease ris

Coenzyme Q10 deficiency due to a COQ4 gene defect causes childhood-onset spinocerebellar ataxia and stroke-like episodes

Primary coenzyme Q10 deficiency-7 is caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the COQ4 gene. Until now 12 patients have been reported, most presenting with a lethal infantile phenotype with encephalopathy, epilepsy and cardiomyopathy. We report on a new phenotype of COQ4 deficiency: a childhood onset spinocerebellar ataxia with stroke-like episodes

Maternal obesity in pregnancy impacts offspring cardiometabolic health: Systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies

Obesity before and during pregnancy leads to reduced offspring cardiometabolic health. Here, we systematically reviewed animal experimental evidence of maternal obesity before and during pregnancy and offspring anthropometry and cardiometabolic health. We systematically searched Embase and Medline from inception until January 2018. Eligible publications compared offspring of mothers with obesity to mothers with a normal weight. We performed meta-analyses and subgroup analyses. We also examined methodological quality and publication bias. We screened 2543 publications and included 145 publications (N = 21 048 animals, five species). Essential methodological details were not reported in the majority of studies. We found evidence of publication bias for birth weight. Offspring of mothers with obesity had higher body weight (standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.76 [95% CI 0.60;0.93]), fat percentage (0.99 [0.64;1.35]), systolic blood pressure (1.33 [0.75;1.91]), triglycerides (0.64 [0.42;0.86], total cholesterol (0.46 [0.18;0.73]), glucose level (0.43 [0.24;0.63]), and insulin level (0.81 [0.61;1.02]) than offspring of control mothers, but similar birth weight. Sex, age, or species did not influence the effect of maternal obesity on offspring's cardiometabolic health. Obesity before and during pregnancy reduces offspring cardiometabolic health in animals. Future intervention studies should investigate whether reducing obesity prior to conception could prevent these detrimental programming effects and improve cardiometabolic health of future generations