Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 May-Jun;25(3):378-88.
doi: 10.1002/ajhb.22385.

Characterization of the infant BMI peak: sex differences, birth year cohort effects, association with concurrent adiposity, and heritability

William Johnson  1 , Audrey C Choh, Miryoung Lee, Bradford Towne, Stefan A Czerwinski, Ellen W Demerath
Affiliations

Characterization of the infant BMI peak: sex differences, birth year cohort effects, association with concurrent adiposity, and heritability

William Johnson et al. Am J Hum Biol. 2013 May-Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: To characterize an early trait in the BMI-for-age curve, the infant BMI peak.

Methods: BMI-for-age curves were produced for 747 non-Hispanic, white Fels Longitudinal Study participants, from which individual age (AgePeak ) and BMI (BMIPeak ) at maximum infant BMI were estimated. Multivariable general linear regression was used to examine the effects of sex and birth year cohort (1929-1950, 1951-1970, and 1971-2010) on AgePeak and BMIPeak , with associations between BMIPeak and concurrent sum of four skinfold thicknesses assessed in a subsample (N = 155). Heritability (h(2) ) of AgePeak and BMIPeak was estimated using maximum-likelihood variance components analysis.

Results: AgePeak occurred at 9 months of age in both sexes, but BMIPeak was 0.4 kg/m(2) higher for boys than for girls (P-value < 0.001). Infants born between 1971 and 2010 experienced a 1.5 month earlier AgePeak and a 0.35 kg/m(2) lower BMIPeak than infants born between 1929 and 1950 (P-values < 0.001). Skinfold thickness explained 37% of the variance in BMIPeak in boys and 20% of the variance in girls (p-values < 0.001). AgePeak and BMIPeak were significantly heritable (h(2) = 0.54 and 0.75, respectively).

Conclusions: Both AgePeak and BMIPeak decreased over successive birth year cohorts in the Fels Longitudinal Study. Despite a positive association of BMIPeak with concurrent adiposity, AgePeak appears to occur later than does the well-documented peak in infant fat mass and BMIPeak does not capture known sex differences in infant adiposity. Strong heritability of these infant BMI traits suggests investigation of genetic control, and validation of their relationship to body composition is greatly needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram showing sample selection and summarizing statistical analyses.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean BMI-for-age curves showing sex differences in Age-Peak and BMIPeak in 747 Fels Longitudinal Study participants.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean BMI-for-age curves showing birth year cohort differences in AgePeak and BMIPeak in 747 Fels Longitudinal Study participants.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Sex-stratified regression lines and 95% confidence intervals of BMIPeak on sum of four skinfold thicknesses in 155 Fels Longitudinal Study participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aksglaede L, Olsen LW, Sorensen TI, Juul A. Forty years trends in timing of pubertal growth spurt in 157,000 Danish school children. PloS One. 2008;3:e2728. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Almasy L, Blangero J. Multipoint quantitative-trait linkage analysis in general pedigrees. Am J Hum Genet. 1998;62:1198–1211. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson SE, Dallal GE, Must A. Relative weight and race influence average age at menarche: results from two nationally representative surveys of US girls studied 25 years apart. Pediatrics. 2003;111:844–850. - PubMed
    1. Andersson EA, Pilgaard K, Pisinger C, Harder MN, Grarup N, Færch K, Sandholt C, Poulsen P, Witte DR, Jørgensen T, Vaag A, Pedersen O, Hansen T. Do gene variants influencing adult adiposity affect birth weight? A population-based study of 24 loci in 4,744 Danish individuals. PLoS One. 2010;5:e14190. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berkey CS, Reed RB. A model for describing normal and abnormal growth in early childhood. Hum Biol. 1987;59:973–987. - PubMed

Publication types