Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neonatal anthropometrics and correlation to childhood obesity—data from the Danish Children’s Obesity Clinic

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent evidence has demonstrated the prenatal initiation of childhood obesity as epidemiological studies and animal studies have illustrated the effect of the intrauterine milieu for subsequent development of childhood obesity. This study investigates the relationship between severe childhood obesity and the preceding in utero conditions expressed by birth weight and birth length, birth-weight-for-gestational-age and neonatal ponderal index in a Danish cohort of 1,171 severely obese children (median age 11.48 years, range 3.13 to 17.98 years) with a mean body mass index-standard derivation score (BMI-SDS) of +2.96 (range +1.65 to +9.72) treated in our national referral centre. In a linear general regression model adjusted for socioeconomic status and breastfeeding duration, a significant linear correlation between BMI-SDS at time of enrolment and both birth weight (p, 3.8 × 10−6) and birth length (p, 6.1 × 10−4), birth-weight-for-gestational-age (p, 4.3 × 10−7) and the neonatal ponderal index (p, 0.02) was demonstrated. Duration of breastfeeding, however, was not found to be significant for either the BMI-SDS/BW or the BMI-SDS/BL correlation. Conclusion: These results indicate that the prenatal period can be considered as a potential window of opportunity for prevention of childhood overweight and obesity and anthropological measurements may in theory be used to help identify neonates at high risk for developing childhood obesity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Agaard-Tillery KM, Grove K, Bishop J, Ke X, Fu Q, McKnight R, Lane RH (2008) Developmental origins of disease and determinants of chromatin structure: maternal diet modifies the primate fetal epigenome. J Mol Endocrinol 41(2):91–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Baker JL, Olsen LW, Sorensen TI (2007) Childhood body-mass index and the risk of coronary heart disease in adulthood. N Engl J Med 357(23):2329–2337

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bennett WI (1995) Beyond overeating. N Engl J Med 332(10):673–674

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Carey WB (1985) Temperament and increased weight gain in infants. J Dev Behav Pediatr 6(3):128–131

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Chang GQ, Gaysinskaya V, Karatayev O, Leibowitz SF (2008) Maternal high-fat diet and fetal programming: increased proliferation of hypothalamic peptide-producing neurons that increase risk for overeating and obesity. J Neurosci 28(46):12107–12119

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Christoffel KK, Forsyth BW (1989) Mirror image of environmental deprivation: severe childhood obesity of psychosocial origin. Child Abuse Negl 13(2):249–256

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Fallucca S, Vasta M, Sciullo E, Balducci S, Fallucca F (2009) Birth weight: genetic and intrauterine environment in normal pregnancy. Diabetes Care 32(12):e149

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Garrison RJ, Kannel WB, Stokes J III, Castelli WP (1987) Incidence and precursors of hypertension in young adults: the Framingham Offspring Study. Prev Med 16(2):235–251

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Haggarty P, Campbell DM, Bendomir A, Gray ES, Abramovich DR (2004) Ponderal index is a poor predictor of in utero growth retardation. BJOG 111(2):113–119

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Hales CN, Barker DJ (1992) Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus: the thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Diabetologia 35(7):595–601

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Han JC, Lawlor DA, Kimm SY (2010) Childhood obesity. Lancet 375(9727):1737–1748

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Holm JC, Gamborg M, Bille DS, Gr Nb KH, Ward LC, Faerk J (2011) Chronic care treatment of obese children and adolescents. Int J Pediatr Obes 6(3–4):188–196

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Holm JC, Gamborg M, Neland M, Ward L, Gammeltoft S, Heitmann BL, Sorensen TI, Ibsen KK (2012) Longitudinal changes in blood pressure during weight loss and regain of weight in obese boys and girls. J Hypertens 30(2):368–374

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Huang JS, Lee TA, Lu MC (2007) Prenatal programming of childhood overweight and obesity. Matern Child Health J 11(5):461–473

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Lamb MM, Dabelea D, Yin X, Ogden LG, Klingensmith GJ, Rewers M, Norris JM (2010) Early-life predictors of higher body mass index in healthy children. Ann Nutr Metab 56(1):16–22

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Larnkjaer A, Ingstrup HK, Schack-Nielsen L, Molgaard C, Michaelsen KF (2011) Thin newborns are more insulin resistant at 10 years of age. Acta Paediatr 100(4):511–514

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Law CM, Gordon GS, Shiell AW, Barker DJ, Hales CN (1995) Thinness at birth and glucose tolerance in seven-year-old children. Diabet Med 12(1):24–29

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Leibel RL, Rosenbaum M, Hirsch J (1995) Changes in energy expenditure resulting from altered body weight. N Engl J Med 332(10):621–628

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Li R, O’Connor L, Buckley D, Specker B (1995) Relation of activity levels to body fat in infants 6 to 12 months of age. J Pediatr 126(3):353–357

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Marsal K, Persson PH, Larsen T, Lilja H, Selbing A, Sultan B (1996) Intrauterine growth curves based on ultrasonically estimated foetal weights. Acta Paediatr 85(7):843–848

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. McCurdy CE, Bishop JM, Williams SM, Grayson BE, Smith MS, Friedman JE, Grove KL (2009) Maternal high-fat diet triggers lipotoxicity in the fetal livers of nonhuman primates. J Clin Invest 119(2):323–335

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Monasta L, Batty GD, Cattaneo A, Lutje V, Ronfani L, van Lenthe FJ, Brug J (2010) Early-life determinants of overweight and obesity: a review of systematic reviews. Obes Rev 11(10):695–708

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Muhlhausler BS, Adam CL, Findlay PA, Duffield JA, McMillen IC (2006) Increased maternal nutrition alters development of the appetite-regulating network in the brain. FASEB J 20(8):1257–1259

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Muhlhausler BS, Duffield JA, McMillen IC (2007) Increased maternal nutrition stimulates peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma, adiponectin, and leptin messenger ribonucleic acid expression in adipose tissue before birth. Endocrinology 148(2):878–885

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Nysom K, Molgaard C, Hutchings B, Michaelsen KF (2001) Body mass index of 0 to 45-y-old Danes: reference values and comparison with published European reference values. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 25(2):177–184

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Parsons TJ, Power C, Manor O (2001) Fetal and early life growth and body mass index from birth to early adulthood in 1958 British cohort: longitudinal study. BMJ 323(7325):1331–1335

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Rasmussen F, Johansson M (1998) The relation of weight, length and ponderal index at birth to body mass index and overweight among 18-year-old males in Sweden. Eur J Epidemiol 14(4):373–380

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Reilly JJ, Armstrong J, Dorosty AR, Emmett PM, Ness A, Rogers I, Steer C, Sherriff A (2005) Early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: cohort study. BMJ 330(7504):1357

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Rogers I (2003) The influence of birthweight and intrauterine environment on adiposity and fat distribution in later life. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 27(7):755–777

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Rugholm S, Baker JL, Olsen LW, Schack-Nielsen L, Bua J, Sorensen TI (2005) Stability of the association between birth weight and childhood overweight during the development of the obesity epidemic. Obes Res 13(12):2187–2194

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Schack-Nielsen L, Molgaard C, Sorensen TI, Greisen G, Michaelsen KF (2006) Secular change in size at birth from 1973 to 2003: national data from Denmark. Obesity (Silver Spring) 14(7):1257–1263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Simmons R (2008) Perinatal programming of obesity. Semin Perinatol 32(5):371–374

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Simmons RA (2009) Developmental origins of adult disease. Pediatr Clin North Am 56(3):449–466, Table

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Sorensen HT, Sabroe S, Rothman KJ, Gillman M, Fischer P, Sorensen TI (1997) Relation between weight and length at birth and body mass index in young adulthood: cohort study. BMJ 315(7116):1137

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Stewart AW, Jackson RT, Ford MA, Beaglehole R (1987) Underestimation of relative weight by use of self-reported height and weight. Am J Epidemiol 125(1):122–126

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Stunkard AJ, Sorensen TI (1993) Obesity and socioeconomic status—a complex relation. N Engl J Med 329(14):1036–1037

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Vik T, Vatten L, Jacobsen G, Bakketeig LS (1997) Prenatal growth in symmetric and asymmetric small-for-gestational-age infants. Early Hum Dev 48(1–2):167–176

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Yu ZB, Han SP, Zhu GZ, Zhu C, Wang XJ, Cao XG, Guo XR (2011) Birth weight and subsequent risk of obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev 12(7):525–542

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study is part of the research activities in the Danish Childhood Obesity Biobank and the Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC). The study is financially supported by The Region Zealand Health Sciences Research Foundation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no personal financial relationship with the sponsoring organisations or other potential conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Paediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbaek, Smedelundsgade 60, 4300, Holbaek, Denmark

    Ulrik Lausten-Thomsen, Dorthe Sadowa Bille, Lise Folskov & Jens-Christian Holm

  2. Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbaek, Holbaek, Denmark

    Ida Nässlund & Torben Larsen

  3. Institute of Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Paediatrics, the Medical Faculty, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jens-Christian Holm

Authors
  1. Ulrik Lausten-Thomsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dorthe Sadowa Bille
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ida Nässlund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lise Folskov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Torben Larsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jens-Christian Holm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrik Lausten-Thomsen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lausten-Thomsen, U., Bille, D.S., Nässlund, I. et al. Neonatal anthropometrics and correlation to childhood obesity—data from the Danish Children’s Obesity Clinic. Eur J Pediatr 172, 747–751 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-013-1949-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-013-1949-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation