Santiago-Vieira, Carolina;
Li, Leah;
de Cássia Ribeiro Silva, Rita;
Freitas de Mello e Silva, Juliana;
Paixão, Enny S;
Barreto, Maurício L;
Velasquez-Melendez, Gustavo;
(2026)
Rapid weight gain in first 2 years of life and BMI trajectories from 3 to <10 years: a population-based longitudinal study of 1.7 million Brazilian children.
The Lancet Regional Health Americas
, 54
, Article 101326. 10.1016/j.lana.2025.101326.
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Abstract
Background: Obesity is considered a disease with negative health impacts at all life stages. Changes in growth patterns, such as postnatal rapid weight gain (RWG), can be important predictors of growth trajectories in children. We investigated the association between RWG during the first two years of life and subsequent BMI trajectories from the age 3–to 9 years, and whether the association differed by birth weight group. Methods: We used the data of a population-based cohort from the Cadastro Único (CadÚnico) of the Federal Government, the linkage of the National Live Births System (SINASC) and the National Food and Nutritional Surveillance System (SISVAN). The sample comprised 1.7 million Brazilian children aged from zero to nine years from 2008 to 2017. Mixed-effects models were used to estimate mean age-trajectories for BMI by RWG group. Findings: Children who experienced RWG during the first two years of life had higher mean BMI trajectories from 3 to 9 years, compared to those who did not. The difference was seen across all birth weight groups, and was more evident for the children with high birth weight. At age 9, the BMI difference between RWG and non-RWG children was 1.31 kg/m2 (boys) and 1.43 kg/m2 (girls) for children with adequate birth weight, 1.27 kg/m2 (boys) and 1.35 kg/m2 (girls) for low birth weight, and 2.25 kg/m2 (boys) and 2.86 kg/m2 (girls) for macrosomia. Interpretation: Children who experienced RWG during the first two years of life had higher BMI trajectories than children who did not. The finding highlighted the importance of monitoring child growth, which allows the early identification of potential growth deviations and the implementation of necessary interventions to ensure that children grow healthy and reach their full developmental potential.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Rapid weight gain in first 2 years of life and BMI trajectories from 3 to <10 years: a population-based longitudinal study of 1.7 million Brazilian children |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.lana.2025.101326 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2025.101326 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Rapid weight gain, Body mass index, Growth trajectories, Birth weight |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10218505 |
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