天美传媒

Abstract

Obesity is now accepted as one of the common childhood diseases. While the number of obese children is increasing in all societies, the age of onset of obesity is getting younger. Very little is known about the emergence of this relationship in early childhood. This longitudinal, follow-up study was planned to determine an identifiable starting points of a trend towards obesity and the influence of variables in preschool children, age 0 to 6 years. 102 children were enrolled in the study. Infancy data were collected retrospectively, and those children having full sets of data were included in the study. Anthropometric measurements weight-height centiles specific for age and gender, weight-height growth velocities, BMI were taken and compared within each group. Measurements were taken at birth, at sixth months and then annually until 6years. All children enrolled in our study were breastfed for the first six months. Standard food lists were given to parents of all children in the 6 months to 1 year age range. Among obese children, the earliest sign of a trend towards obesity was the weight gain after 6 months. There were upward trends in weight, weight gain velocity after 6 month of age and BMI values after 2 years of age. The height was higher in obese children than in non-obese after 4 years of age (p=0.009 for 4th year). While the difference between weight of obese and non-obese girls was significant from 6 months to 6 years of age, this difference was seen from 2 years onwards in boys. The weight gain velocities increased after 2 years of age in girls with obesity, but this was not seen in boys until 6 years of age. There were upward trends in BMI values indicating a trend towards obesity at 6 months of age in boys and at 2 years of age in girls. A statistically significant difference was found in the weights of obese and non-obese girls after 4 years of age, but the weight and height growth velocities were not different in obese and non-obese girls. When comparing obese and non-obese boys, the weights of obese boys began to exceed those of non-obese boys after 2 years of age. Obesity should be predicted before 6 years of age in order to prevent obesity in the school-age and to control the increasing prevalence of adult obesity. According to our data, 6 months and 2 years of age are considered to be the most critical periods for the development of obesity in childhood. First critical period for tendency towards obesity could be associated with the time of onset of additional feeding.

Biography

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