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
. 2014 Feb 13:14:160.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-160.

Important periods of weight development in childhood: a population-based longitudinal study

Kari Glavin  1 , Mathieu Roelants, Bjørn Heine Strand, Pétur B Júlíusson, Kari Kveim Lie, Sølvi Helseth, Ragnhild Hovengen
Affiliations

Important periods of weight development in childhood: a population-based longitudinal study

Kari Glavin et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Identifying important ages for the development of overweight is essential for optimizing preventive efforts. The purpose of the study was to explore early growth characteristics in children who become overweight or obese at the age of 8 years to identify important ages for the onset of overweight and obesity.

Methods: Data from the Norwegian Child Growth Study in 2010 (N = 3172) were linked with repeated measurements from health records beginning at birth. Weight and height were used to derive the body mass index (BMI) in kg/m2. The BMI standard deviation score (SDS) for each participant was estimated at specific target ages, using a piecewise linear mixed effect model.

Results: At 8 years of age, 20.4% of the children were overweight or obese. Already at birth, overweight children had a significantly higher mean BMI SDS than normal weight 8-year-olds (p < .001) and this difference increased in consecutive age groups in infancy and childhood. A relatively large increase in BMI during the first 9 months was identified as important for being overweight at 8 years. BMI SDS at birth was associated with overweight at 8 years of age (OR, 1.8; 1.6-2.0), and with obesity (OR, 1.8; 1.4-2.3). The Odds Ratios for the BMI SDS and change in BMI SDS further increased up to 1 year of age became very high from 2 years of age onwards.

Conclusions: A high birth weight and an increasing BMI SDS during the first 9 months and high BMI from 2 years of age proved important landmarks for the onset of being overweight at 8 years of age. The risks of being overweight at 8 years appear to start very early. Interventions to prevent children becoming overweight should not only start at a very early age but also include the prenatal stage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trajectories of mean BMI SDS values at target ages according to IOTF BMI status at age 8 years (the “broken stick” model). The different lines represent the mean BMI SDS in children with no overweight in the total population; those being overweight (but not obese); those being overweight (OW); being overweight and obese (OW + OB) and being obese (OB) at 8 years of age (N = 3172).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ozden MG, Tekin NS, Gürer MA, Akdemir D, Doğramaci C, Utaş S, Akman A, Evans SE, Bahadir S, Oztürkcan S, Ikizoğlu G, Sendur N, Köse O, Bek Y, Yayli S, Cantürk T, Turanl AY. Environmental risk factors in pediatric psoriasis: a multicenter case-control study. Pediatr Dermatol. 2011;28(3):306–312. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1470.2011.01408.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Franks PW, Hanson RL, Knowler WC, Sievers ML, Bennett PH, Looker HC. Childhood obesity, other cardiovascular risk factors, and premature death. N Engl J Med. 2010;362(6):485–484. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0904130. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Han JC, Lawlor DA, Kimm SYS. Childhood obesity. Lancet. 2010;375(9727):1737–1748. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60171-7. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60171–7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zwiauer KFM. Prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Eur J Paediatr. 2000;159(13 Suppl. 1):56–68. - PubMed
    1. Dietz WH. Critical periods in childhood for the development of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994;59:955–959. - PubMed