Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Relation between body composition at birth and child development at 2 years of age: a prospective cohort study among Ethiopian children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 1411–1417 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Birth weight (BW), independent of socioeconomic status, has been identified as a predictor for childhood cognitive development. However, it is not known whether this relation is related to low BW per se or particularly related to a deficit in fat mass (FM) or fat-free mass (FFM) at birth. This study therefore aimed at investigating the relation between body composition at birth and child development at 2 years of age.

Subjects/Methods:

An Ethiopian birth cohort was followed up at 2 years. Body composition was measured within 48 h of birth using infant air-displacement plethysmography. Child development was assessed at 2 years of age using Denver developmental screening test. Associations between body composition at birth and development at 2 years of age were tested using linear regression analysis.

Results:

FFM but not FM at birth was positively associated with higher global developmental score at 2 years of age (β=2.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.17; 4.79) adjusted for neonatal, postnatal and parental characteristics. This association was attributable to the association with the language developmental domain (β=1.61, 95 CI 0.33; 2.90).

Conclusions:

Among Ethiopian children, FFM at birth but not FM predicted better global and language development at 2 years of age. Higher FFM at birth might have exerted a positive effect on the growth and differentiation of the brain and neuronal circuits for better development. This study therefore highlights the need to improve mother's nutritional status during pregnancy in ways that stimulate fetal FFM growth.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

References

  1. United Nation (UN). The Millennium Development Goals Report. UN. New York 2013.

  2. You D, Hug L, Ejdemyr S, Idele P, Hogan D, Mathers C et al. Global, regional, and national levels and trends in under-5 mortality between 1990 and 2015, with scenario-based projections to 2030: a systematic analysis by the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Lancet 2015; 386: 2275–2286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Black MM, Walker SP, Fernald LCH, Andersen CT, DiGirolamo AM, Lu C et al. Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. Lancet 2016; 389: 77–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lu C, Black MM, Richter LM . Risk of poor development in young children in low-income and middle-income countries: an estimation and analysis at the global, regional, and country level. Lancet Glob Health 2016; 4: e916–e922.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Maalouf-Manasseh Z, Oot L, Sethuraman K . Giving children the best start in life: integrating nutrition and early childhood development programming within the first 1000 days. Technical brief. Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project 2016.

  6. Cusick S, Georgieff MK . The first 1000 days of life: the brain’s window of opportunity: UNICEF. Office of research-Innocenti. Available from: https://www.unicefirc.org/article/958/. (Accessed 13th November 2016).

  7. Grantham-McGregor SM, Lira PI, Ashworth A, Morris SS, Assuncao AM . The development of low birth weight term infants and the effects of the environment in northeast Brazil. J Pediatr 1998; 132: 661–666.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Brooks-Gunn J, Pam Kato K, Fong-Ruey L, Donna S . ‘Enhancing the development of low-birth-weight, premature infants: changes in cognition and behavior over the first three years’. Child Dev 1993; 64: 736–753.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Boulet SL, Schieve LA, Boyle CA . Birth weight and health and developmental outcomes in US children, 1997–2005. Matern Child Health J 2011; 15: 836–844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Rojahn J, Aman MG, Marshburn E, Moeschberger ML, King EH, Logsdon DA et al. Biological and environmental risk for poor developmental outcome of young children. Am J Ment Retard 1993; 97: 702–708.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Wade M, Browne DT, Madigan S, Plamondon A, Jenkins JM . Normal birth weight variation and children’s neuropsychological functioning: links between language, executive functioning, and theory of mind. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2014; 20: 909–919.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Deurenberg P, Yap M, Staveren WA . Body mass index and percent body fat: a meta-analysis among different ethnic groups. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998; 22: 1164–1171.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nightingale CM, Rudnicka AR, Owen CG, Cook DG, Whincup PH . Patterns of body size and adiposity among UK children of South Asian, black African-Caribbean and white European origin: Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE Study). Int J Epidemiol 2011; 40: 33–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Stanfield KM, Wells JC, Fewtrell MS, Frost C, Leon DA . Differences in body composition between infants of South Asian and European ancestry: the London Mother and Baby Study. Int J Epidemiol 2012; 41: 1409–1418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Van SL, Karamali NS, Kanhai HH, Ariëns GA, Fall CH, Yajnik CS et al. Neonatal anthropometry: thin-fat phenotype in fourth to fifth generation South Asian neonates in Surinam. Int J Obes (Lond) 2009; 33: 1326–1329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Andersen GS, Girma T, Wells JCK, Kæstel P, Michaelsen KF, Friis H . Fat and fat-free mass at birth: air displacement plethysmography measurements on 350 Ethiopian newborns. Pediatr Res 2011; 70: 501–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lee S, Bountziouka V, Lum S, Stocks J, Bonner R, Naik M et al. Ethnic variability in body size, proportions and composition in children aged 5 to 11 years: is ethnic-specific calibration of bioelectrical impedance required? Alemany M (ed). PLoS One 2014; 9: e113883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wells JC, Fewtrell MS . Is body composition important for paediatricians? Arch Dis Child 2008; 93: 168–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Andersen G, Girma T, Wells J, Kaestel P, Leventi M, Hother AL et al. Body composition from birth to 6 mo of age in Ethiopian infants: reference data obtained by air-displacement plethysmography. Am J Clin Nutr 2013; 98: 885–894.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ballard JL, Khoury JC, Wedig K, Wang L, Eilers-Walsman BL, Lipp R . New Ballard score, expanded to include extremely premature infants. J Pediatr 1991; 119: 417–423.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Gemechu T, Nigussie B, Wondafrash M, Valy J, Lemmens J, Thijs H et al. Adaptation and standardization of a Western tool for assessing child development in non-Western low-income context. BMC Public Health 2016; 16: 652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Hadley C, Tegegn A, Tessema T, Asefa M, Galea S . Parental symptoms of common mental disorders and children’s social, motor, and language development in sub-Saharan Africa. Ann Hum Biol 2008; 35: 259–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Frankenburg WK, Dobbs JB, Archer P, Shapiro H, Bresnick B . Denver II Technical Manual. In: Denver Developmental Materials. Denver, CO, USA; 1992.

  24. Christiansen TB, Lauritsen JM (ed). EpiData - Comprehensive Data Management and Basic Statistical Analysis System. EpiData Association: Odense, Denmark, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Larsson J, Aurelius G, Nordberg L, Rudelius P, Zetterstrom R . Developmental screening at four years of age. Relation to home situation, perinatal stress, development and behaviour among Swedish children. Acta Paediatrica 1994; 83: 46–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Lawrence M, Christina P, Jane W . Income and child development Center for Research on Child Wellbeing Working Paper # 05-16-FF 2005.

  27. Widdowson EM . Growth and composition of the fetus and newborn. In: Asali NS (ed). Biology and Gestation. Academic Press: New York, NY, USA, 1968, pp 1–49.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Sparks JW . Human intrauterine growth and nutrient accretion. Semin Perinatol 1984; 8: 7 t-93.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Bernstein IM, Goran MI, Amini SB, Catalano PM . Differential growth of fetal tissues during the second half of pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997; 176: 28–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Skullerud K . Variations in the size of the human brain. Influence of age, sex, body length, body mass index, alcoholism, Alzheimer changes, and cerebral atherosclerosis. Acta Neurol Scand 1985; 102: 1–94.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Fuglestad A, Rao R, Georgieff M . The role of nutrition in cognitive devel- opment. In: Nelson CA, Luciana L (eds). Handbook of Developmental Cog- nitive Neuroscience. 2nd edn. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2008, pp 623–642.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Pfister KM, Gray HL, Miller NC, Demerath EW, Georgieff MK, Ramel SE . Exploratory study of the relationship of fat-free mass to speed of brain processing in preterm infants. Pediatr Res 2013; 74: 576–583.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Reilly S, Wake M, Bavin EL, Prior M, Williams J, Bretherton L et al. Predicting language at 2 years of age: a prospective community study. Pediatrics 2007; 120: e1441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Thompson RA, Nelson CA . Developmental science and the media: early brain development. Am Psychol 2001; 56: 5–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Kretchmer N, Beard JL, Carlson S . The role of nutrition in the development of normal cognition. Am J Clin Nutr 1996; 63: 997S–1001S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Georgieff MK, Innis S . Controversial nutrients in the perinatal period that potentially affect neurodevelopment: essential fatty acids and iron. Pediatr Res 2005; 57: 99R–103R.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Stiles J, Jernigan TL . The basics of brain development. Neuropsychol Rev 2010; 20: 327–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Ziegler EE, O’Donnell AM, Nelson SE, Fomon SJ . Body composition of the reference fetus. Growth 1976; 40: 329–341.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Pacce S, Saure C, Mazza CS, Garcia S, Tomzig RG, Lopez AP et al. Impact of maternal nutritional status before and during pregnancy on neonatal body composition: a cross-sectional study. Diabetes Metab Syndr 2016; 10: S7–S12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Nohr EA, VaethM, Baker JL, Sørensen T, Olsen J, Rasmussen KM . Combined associations of pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain with the outcome of pregnancy. Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 87: 1750–1759.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Andres A, Patrick HC, Bellando J, Mario AC, Thomas MB . Effects of fat mass on motor development during the first 2 years of life. Infant Child Adolescent Nutr 2013; vol. 5: 248–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Eriksson M, Marschik PB, Tulviste T, Almgren M, Pereira MP, Wehberg S et al. Differences between girls and boys in emerging language skills: evidence from 10 language communities. Br J Dev Psychol 2012; 30: 326–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Kuban KC, Allred EN, O’Shea TM, Paneth N, Westra S, Miller C et al. Developmental correlates of head circumference at birth and two years in a cohort of extremely low gestational age newborns. J Pediatr 155: 344–349. e1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Paranjothy S, Broughton H, Adappa R, Fone D . Teenage pregnancy: who suffers? Arch Dis Child 2009; 94: 239–245.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Lejarraga H, Pascucci LC, Krupitzky S, Kelmansky D, Bianco A, Martinez E et al. Psychomotor development in Argentina children aged 0–5 years. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2002; 16: 47–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Barker DJ . The origins of the developmental origins theory. J Intern Med 2007; 261: 412–417.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Hoffman ML, Peck KN, Forella ME, Fox AR, Govoni KE, Zinn SA . The effects of poor maternal nutrition during gestation on postnatal growth and development of lambs. J Anim Sci 2016; 94: 789–799.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Hoffman ML, Rokosa MA, Zinn SA, Hoagland TA, Govoni KE . Poor maternal nutrition during gestation in sheep reduces circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in offspring. Domest Anim Endocrinol 2014; 49: 39–48.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Crume TL, Brinton JT, Shapiro A, Kaar J, Glueck DH, Maria AS et al. Maternal dietary intake during pregnancy and offspring body composition: the Healthy Start Study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2016; 215: 609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Jimma University for allowing the research to be conducted and providing logistic support. We also like to acknowledge the Jimma University and University of Copenhagen Alliance in Nutrition (JUCAN) research staff for their unreserved commitment to this research work and the study participants for their time and participation. This study was supported by grants funded by Danish Council for Strategic Research—Program Commission on Food and Health; Danida through the Consultative Research Committee for Development Research (104. Dan.8-1207 and 09-097 LIFE). Funders had no involvement in the conduct and report of the study.

Author contributions

MA, HF, TG, PK, GSA, MT and JW: designed the study; MA, BA, TG, MT, GSA, RW, PK and HF: conducted the study; MA, BA, PK, JW and HF: analyzed data and interpreted the finding; MT, TG, CH, RW and GSA: commented on the interpreted findings and contributed to the write up; MA: wrote the first draft of the manuscript and had responsibility for the whole work. All authors reviewed the content, read and approved the final version.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Science, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

    M Abera & M Tesfaye

  2. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    M Abera, M Tesfaye, B Admassu, R Wibaek, H Friis & P Kæstel

  3. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medical Science, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

    T Girma

  4. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    C Hanlon

  5. Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    C Hanlon

  6. Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark

    G S Andersen & R Wibaek

  7. Childhood Nutrition Research Centre UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK

    J C Wells

  8. Department of Population and Family Health, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

    B Admassu

Authors
  1. M Abera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M Tesfaye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T Girma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C Hanlon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. G S Andersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J C Wells
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. B Admassu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R Wibaek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. H Friis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. P Kæstel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Abera.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Abera, M., Tesfaye, M., Girma, T. et al. Relation between body composition at birth and child development at 2 years of age: a prospective cohort study among Ethiopian children. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 1411–1417 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.129

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.129

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links