Child growth trajectories to adult disease: lessons from UK birth cohort studies

Excerpt

The developmental origins of health and disease theory purports that early life factors determine long-term risks of death and disease. Historical studies, prospective birth cohorts such the UK ALSPAC birth cohort [1], and more recently genetic studies [2] indicate that the rapid weight gain trajectory to later obesity starts in the first months of life, even from birth. Rapid infant weight gain and childhood overweight lead to earlier pubertal maturation in boys and girls, and in turn these adolescent traits are predictive for obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease events in later life. Understanding of the nutritional, parental and wider determinants of rapid infant weight gain are informing the development of obesity prevention strategies starting in early life [3]. …