Physical control and coordination in childhood and adult obesity: Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective: To identify whether measures of childhood physical control and coordination as markers of neurological function are associated with obesity in adults.

Design: Longitudinal birth cohort study.

Setting: National child development study in Great Britain.

Participants: 11,042 people born during one week in 1958.

Main outcome measure: Obesity at age 33 years defined as body mass index >or=30.

Results: Among 7990 cohort members at age 7 years, teachers reported that poor hand control, poor coordination, and clumsiness "certainly applied" more often among those who would be obese adults, producing adjusted odds ratios of 1.57 (95% confidence interval 1.13 to 2.20; P=0.008) for poor hand control, 2.30 (1.52 to 3.46; P<0.001) for poor coordination, and 3.91 (2.61 to 5.87; P<0.001) for clumsiness. Among 6875 participants who had doctor administered assessments with continuous scores at age 11 years, poorer function was associated with later obesity, indicated by adjusted odds ratios (change in risk per unit increase in score) of 0.88 (0.81 to 0.96; P=0.003) for copying designs, 0.84 (0.78 to 0.91; P<0.001) for marking squares, and 1.14 (1.06 to 1.24; P<0.001) for picking up matches (a higher score indicates poor function in this test). Further adjustment for contemporaneous body mass index at age 7 or 11 years did not eliminate statistical significance for any of the associations.

Conclusion: Some aspects of poorer neurological function associated with adult obesity may have their origins in childhood.