Early clinical markers of overweight/obesity onset and resolution by adolescence

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2020-01, Vol.44 (1), p.82-93
• Main Authors: Juonala, Markus, Lau, Ted, Wake, Melissa, Grobler, Anneke, Kerr, Jessica A., Magnussen, Costan G., Sabin, Matthew A., Burgner, David P., Lycett, Kate
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/56; 692/163/2743/393; 692/499; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescents; Age; Australia; Biomarkers; Body Mass Index; Body Size - physiology; Body weight; Child; Child development; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Correlation analysis; Education; Educational Status; Epidemiology; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Indicators; Internal Medicine; Longitudinal Studies; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Obesity; Obesity - diagnosis; Obesity - epidemiology; Overweight; Overweight - diagnosis; Overweight - epidemiology; Public Health; Risk analysis; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Task forces; Type 2 diabetes
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/s41366-019-0457-2

Objectives We examined how combinations of clinical indicators at various ages predict overweight/obesity development, as well as resolution, by 10–11 and 14–15 years of age. Methods Data were derived from Birth ( N  = 3469) and Kinder ( N  = 3276) cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, followed from ages 2–3 and 4–5 years, respectively. Every two years, 25 potential obesity-relevant clinical indicators were quantified. Overweight/obesity was defined using International Obesity Taskforce cutpoints at 10–11 years and 14–15 years. Results In both cohorts, three factors predicted both development and resolution of overweight/obesity in multivariable models. Among normal weight children, increased odds of developing overweight/obesity were associated with higher child (odd ratio (OR) 1.67–3.35 across different study waves) and maternal (OR 1.05–1.09) BMI, and inversely with higher maternal education (OR 0.60–0.62, when assessed at age 2–7 years). Lower odds of resolving existing overweight/obesity were related with higher child (OR 0.51–0.79) and maternal (OR 0.89–0.95) BMI, and inversely with higher maternal education (OR 1.62–1.92, when assessed at age 2–5 years). The prevalence of overweight/obesity at the age of 14–15 years was 13% among children with none of these risk factors at age 6–7 years, compared with 71% among those with all 3 risk factors ( P