Examination of the relationship between early growth and body composition (BC) in infancy might provide clues about the mechanism of early nutrition programming. 150 healthy full-term infants (64 boys) born in Cambridge from 1985–1993 had BC measured using stable isotope at the age of 12 weeks as a part of infant nutrition studies. Fat mass index (FMI, FM/length2) and lean mass index (LMI, LM/length2) internal standard deviation scores (SDS) were calculated for boys and girls. Birth weight SDS was positively associated with length, BMI and FMI SDS at 12 weeks, but not LMI SDS; equivalent to 0.26 SDS increase in FMI per 1 SDS increase in birth weight (95% CI, 0.04–0.48). Weight SDS change from birth-12 weeks was positively correlated with FMI and LMI SDS at 12 weeks; equivalent to 0.68 SDS and 0.48 SDS increase in FMI and LMI per 1 SDS gain in weight (95% CI, 0.48–0.88 and 0.26–0.70, respectively). Associations were independent of gender, parity, infant diets, and, for weight gain, birth weight SDS. Conclusion: Higher birth weight was associated with higher fat mass at 3 months whereas rapid weight gain in the first 3 months was associated with both fat and lean mass. Our data do not support the hypothesis that lean mass tracks directly from fetal life to childhood.
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Chomtho, S., Wells, J.C.K., Davies, P.S., Lucas, A., Fewtrell, M.S. (2009). Early Growth and Body Composition in Infancy. In: Koletzko, B., Decsi, T., Molnár, D., de la Hunty, A. (eds) Early Nutrition Programming and Health Outcomes in Later Life. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 646. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9173-5_19
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