ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

joelh@broadinstitute.org Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Nov;29(11):1899–1906. doi: 10.1002/oby.23271. Epub 2021 Sep 21. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34549538/

Brief Summary: This longitudinal study assessed body composition in a cohort of children at ages 1, 3, and 6 months and 4 years (n=224, Boys: n=120). Being in the “high group” of FM% at 3 or 6 months of age was associated with a higher risk of being in the “high FM% group” at 4 years of age. The authors concluded that high percent fat mass (FM%) tracked from age 3 and 6 months to 4 years of age.

The question of tracking body composition from early childhood into adulthood is of interest. The strengths of the present study are the longitudinally and detailed measurements of body composition from birth up to 4 years of age in a group of healthy, term-born children. Body composition was measured by Air displacement plethysmography (ADP) at 1, 3 and 6 months of age and by Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) at 6 months (if children’s weight was already greater than 8 kg) and at 4 years of age. Markers of body composition FM%, FMI, FFMI, abdominal subcutaneous and visceral fat and BMI-SDS were grouped in “high”, “moderate” or “low” (using tertiles) at each time point.

Only few studies to date have longitudinally assessed body composition in early childhood from birth onwards [1,2]. The observations from this study add to literature where tracking of body fat mass from early life through childhood has been shown [1,2]. The knowledge about tracking of body composition from infancy to childhood and adolescents is important for clinical practice, since it is known that almost 90% of children who were obese at 3 years of age were overweight or obese in adolescence [3].

One limitation is that the analysis of the data using logistic regression does not directly test tracking. Regardless of this, well-designed cohorts like this cohort are important for a deeper understanding of tracking of body composition during childhood up to adolescence and adulthood.

References: 1. Forsum E, Eriksson B, Flinke E, Henriksson H, Henriksson P, Löf M. Fat and fat-free mass of healthy Swedish children show tracking during early life, but there are differences. Acta Paediatr. 2019 Sep;108(9):1704–1708. doi: 10.1111/apa.14771. Epub 2019 Mar 25. 2. Vogelezang S, Gishti O, Felix JF, van der Beek EM, Abrahamse-Berkeveld M, Hofman A, Gaillard R, Jaddoe VWV. Tracking of abdominal subcutaneous and preperitoneal fat mass during childhood. The Generation R Study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2016 Apr;40(4):595–600. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2015.252. Epub 2015 Dec 21. 3. Geserick M, Vogel M, Gausche R, Lipek T, Spielau U, Keller E, Pfäffle R, Kies W, Körner A. Acceleration of BMI in Early Childhood and Risk of Sustained Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2018 Oct 4;379(14):1303–1312. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1803527.