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Rapid Weight Gain in Early Infancy Increases Risk for Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

Infants with rapid weight gain had significantly greater body fat and waist circumference and reduced insulin sensitivity as adults, compared with infants with slow weight gain.

Low birth weight has been associated with cardiovascular disease in adulthood (JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Jan 9 2008). Investigators in the Netherlands used longitudinal data from an observational study to examine the association between growth patterns (weight and length) during the first year of life and risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in early adulthood.

The study involved 213 healthy white young adults (age range, 18–24) with first-year growth data. All were born at or after 36 weeks’ gestation; 84 were small (birth length <2 standard deviations below a mean of 47.6 cm) at birth (9 had short stature as adults), and 129 were normal size at birth (41 had short stature as adults). Weight gain during the first 3 months of life (but not later in the first year) was inversely associated with adult insulin sensitivity and HDL cholesterol levels and positively associated with adult waist circumference, acute insulin response, ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations. In analysis of subgroups with rapid (>0.5 standard deviations) or slow (<0.5 standard deviations) weight gain during the first 3 months, those with rapid growth had a significantly greater percentage of body fat and waist circumference and reduced insulin sensitivity as adults. Differences in percentage of body fat explained the differences in waist circumference and insulin sensitivity between the rapid and slow weight gain subgroups.

Comment: This study supports the growing body of evidence that adult cardiovascular disease and diabetes can be programmed early in life and adds evidence that the growth pattern during the first 3 months of life is critical. Unfortunately, the study did not examine dietary factors associated with the rapid growth.

— F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Published in Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine June 10, 2009

Citation(s):

Leunissen RWJ et al. Timing and tempo of first-year rapid growth in relation to cardiovascular and metabolic risk profile in early adulthood. JAMA 2009 Jun 3; 301:2234.

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• RAPID WEIGHT GAIN IN EARLY INFANCY
  Ramadevi Sankaran, Iowa, USA, 11 Jun 2009 1:15 PM EST
  would like to know whether these babies were formula feed babies.
• Information on nutrition
  L. Whinston-Perry, Executive Editor, JW Pediatr Adolesc Med, 11 Jun 2009 2:18 PM EST
  A quote from the authors in the original article: "Unfortunately, our study did not have nutritional data to investigate the... [more]
• Weight Data? Low Birth Weight Babies?
  Kim Strydom, Australia, 16 Jun 2009 7:55 PM EST
  Do you have the data on the mean birth weights and the amount of change? Rapid weight gain is defined... [more]
• rapid weight gain definition
  Melina M, 15 Jul 2009 3:01 AM EST
  it says that rapid weigh gain is defined as 0.5 SD. Please clarify the time of this increase in 0.5... [more]