Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Early Human Development journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/earlhumdev Anthropometry, body fat and central adiposity in LBW and NBW Indian children aged 3.5 to 4 years Mitravinda Aneesh ⁎ , Padmini S. Ghugre Department of Food Science and Nutrition, S.N.D.T. Women's University, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Birth weight Change in weight SD Waist circumference Body fat(%) LBW India ABSTRACT Background: India has a high prevalence of low birth weight. Evidence indicates that poor fetal growth and rapid postnatal weight gain are associated with adiposity. Objectives: (i) To study the differences between the anthropometry, body fat measures of LBW and NBW children and (ii) To find out if there is any relationship between birth weight, change in weight SD and body fat measures of these children. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: We studied 396 children aged between 3.5 and 4 years who were beneficiaries of government-run anganwadis in urban slums of Mumbai city, India. Outcome measures: Birth weight, current weight, height, skinfold thicknesses and waist circumference. Change in weight SD and body fat (%) were calculated. WHOAnthro was used to compute the z scores. Parent's education, income and breastfeeding history was recorded. Results: The mean change in weight SD of LBW and NBW groups were 1.01 ± 1.4 and -0.73 ± 1.13 re- spectively (p < 0.001). LBW children were lighter and shorter than NBW ones but had similar body fat (%) and central adiposity measures. In LBW and NBW children, birth weight Z score and change in weight SD were positively related to body fat (%) and waist circumference. Conclusion: Children in this study belonged to low socioeconomic section. Despite this, LBW displayed a ten- dency towards accumulating body fat particularly, abdominal fat for lower body weight. Birth weight and postnatal weight change predict body fat and waist circumference in LBW and NBW children. 1. Introduction Over the past two decades, the understanding of the ‘Barker's Hypothesis’ or 'Fetal Origins of Adulthood Diseases' has grown. According to this theory, poor fetal nutrition programs the fetal meta- bolism in a way that promotes immediate survival at the expense of future metabolic threats such as insulin resistance, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease [1]. Several studies supported this hypoth- esis [2–6] including the studies conducted in India [7–9]. In the last few years, researchers have also suggested that besides birth weight, postnatal weight gain is another factor that may increase the risk of obesity and metabolic disorders. Rapid postnatal weight gain mainly during infancy has been shown to be predictive of fat mass particularly, abdominal fat or visceral fat mass in childhood [10–12], adolescence [13] and adulthood [14–16]. In India too, weight gain during childhood or adolescence has associated with central adiposity in adulthood [17,18]. The growth trajectory differs among the low birth weight (LBW) and normal birth weight (NBW) infants during early postnatal period. Children born with LBW tend to experience catch-up growth by two years of age. The postnatal growth trajectory can potentially influence the body fat and regional distribution of fat. Some studies have reported that small-for-gestational (SGA) children were heavier, had higher BMI, whole body fat and abdominal fat than the appropriate-for-age (AGA) ones at four to eight years of age [10,19,20]. To our knowledge, studies in India have not compared the anthropometry, body fat and central adiposity of low birth weight (LBW) and normal birth weight (NBW) children in childhood. The high prevalence of low birth weight in India, the dismal socioeconomic indicators, changing lifestyle patterns ne- cessitate the need to explore the differences in the growth, anthro- pometry and body fat of LBW and NBW children in the early years. This understanding can contribute to public health policies aiming towards https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.104885 Received 13 June 2019; Received in revised form 2 September 2019; Accepted 4 September 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Sir Vithaldas Vihar, S.N.D.T. Women's University, Juhu Road, Mumbai 400049, Maharashtra, India. E-mail address: mitrasav@gmail.com (M. Aneesh). Early Human Development 139 (2019) 104885 0378-3782/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T