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The Influence of Birth Weight on Body Mass Index in Young Children in Northwest Arkansas
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Frame, Margaret C. |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | Body Mass Index (BMI) is a screening tool to measure body fat that is calculated based on the height, weight, age, and gender of a child. Being overweight as a child is defined as having a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles. Obesity is defined as having a BMI at or above the 95th percentile (“Basics About Childhood Obesity,” 2012). Having a high BMI comes with an increased risk of multiple comorbidities, both physical and psychosocial (Pulgaron, 2013). Birth weight has been presumed to play a role in the prevalence of obesity in children. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation of birth weight and obesity. A retrospective chart review from patients Harvey Pediatric evaluated weight at birth, two years, four years, and seven years of age to determine if there was a correlation between BMI and birth weight in NWA. 53 chart reviews were completed, and although there were small positive correlations between birth weight and body mass index at ages two and four, there was no statistically significant correlation. Therefore the hypothesis, there is no statistically significant difference between birth weight and BMI measurements in children at the ages of birth, 2, 5, and 7 years, was accepted. The Influence of Birth Weight on Body Mass Index in Young Children in Northwest Arkansas 2 Background and Significance Childhood obesity is a topic that is constantly being covered by the news in America. Childhood weight gain is becoming a more prominent health disparity for minority children each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), being overweight as a child is defined as a body mass index (BMI) that is between the 85th and 95th percentiles. Obesity is defined as having a body mass at or above the 95th percentile. As children progress through development and puberty, the normal percentage of body fat fluctuates. To accommodate these fluctuations, the CDC has developed growth charts that incorporate the way male and female’s bodies differ between the ages of two to18 (“Basics About Childhood Obesity,” 2012). Obesity is associated with numerous co-morbidities. While most health related issues appear to be physical such as orthopedic problems, hypertension, type-II diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and types of heart disease, as well as gallbladder cancer (“Increased BMI ups cancer risk”, 2014), disk degeneration, acanthosis nigrans, and differences in timing of sexual maturation (Pulgaron, 2013), many comorbidities fly under the radar as psychosocial problems. Obese children are associated with a higher incidence of ADHD, greater internalizing and externalizing symptoms, sleep problems, as well as depression and poor self esteem (Pulgaron, 2013). Because of the extent that obesity affects children in all aspects of their lives, it has become a major focus of the Healthy People 2020 Objectives (Nutrition and Weight Status, n.d.). The Influence of Birth Weight on Body Mass Index in Young Children in Northwest Arkansas 3 Birth weight and maternal pre-pregnancy BMI are factors that have been presumed to largely influence a child’s BMI. Overall, children who are born small for gestational age (SGA) or from mothers who have elevated pre-pregnancy BMIs have a higher prevalence of being overweight at age five than do children who are large for gestational age (LGA) or from mothers with a low or normal pre-pregnancy BMI (Laitinen et al., 2012). While looking at the association of birth weight to childhood obesity, the factors that play into birth weight must also be considered. Maternal BMI prior to pregnancy and gestational weight gain (GWG) are being linked as major determinants towards a child’s birth weight. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and weight gain in the first and third trimesters have been shown to impact the birth weight of the infant (Estampador et al., 2014). Gestational weight gain during the first half of the pregnancy has been found to have a positive correlation with the BMI of the child (Laitinen et al., 2012). However, there is no evidence to support that maternal weight gain during the middle trimester affects birth weight (MargerisonZilko et al., 2012). Studies demonstrate that women who experience more GWG but have a lower pre-pregnancy BMI are more likely to have a SGA baby because of the low pre-pregnancy BMI. Women who have a high pre-pregnancy BMI but lower GWG are at an increased chance of having a LGA baby. Women experiencing increased GWG throughout all the trimesters are correlated with an increased odds ratio of producing LGA offspring and a decreased odds ratio for SGA offspring (Hunt, Alanis, Johnson, Mayorga & Korte, 2013). Research examining the impact of birth weight trends on BMI in childhood is sparse. However, information regarding the rate of weight gain in infancy and its The Influence of Birth Weight on Body Mass Index in Young Children in Northwest Arkansas 4 effect on BMI is more available. One reason that SGA babies may be at a higher risk for being overweight at age five is because of the increase rate of weight gain during the first year of life. A study of more than 200,000 individuals people found that the lower the birth rate the higher risk for coronary heart disease later in life. Researchers also found via observation of adults over a period of eight years, those born SGA had a higher BMI than those born appropriate for gestational age. At birth, SGA babies have a decreased presence of fat mass around the abdomen when compared with infants born with appropriate gestational weight (Andersen et al., 2010). This is explained by the rate at which infants gain weight in their first year of life. A 2011 study focused on the effect of weight gain during the first six months of life, and was found to have clinical and statistical significance for obesity at age five, than if the weight was gained in a different six-month period during the first two years of life. If the child gained more than half of their weight for age during months two to four, the chance of the child being overweight at age two years was much greater than if the child gained more than half of their weight for age during months zero to two or four to six.. (Young, Johnson, and Krebs, 2012). There is limited literature comparing birth weight to subsequent weight gain in infants and children. Purpose of the Study and Research Questions The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of birth weight on childhood BMI from birth to seven years of age in a population of children in |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=nursuht&httpsredir=1&referer= |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
