Greater Body Adiposity Found To Promote Increased Fat Intake During Childhood

Nutrition Research Newsletter, Sept, 1999 by Shay M. Robertson, Karen W. Cullen, Janice Baranowski

Obesity during childhood is fast becoming a huge health concern. Children's growth and the development of obesity may be influenced by particular growth periods found throughout early childhood. During the first period of growth, which occurs throughout the first year, there is no increase in the number of adipose cells in the body, only an increase in the size of the existing cells. Following the first year of life, fat cell size declines. The second growth phase occurs around the age of six and is characterized by a rapid increase in both the number and size of adipose cells. This period is termed adiposity rebound. There is currently little known concerning what impacts adiposity during the time frame preceding and leading up to the rebound period.

A recent University of Texas study focused on differences in dietary intake and physical activity between two distinct groups of preschool children. The two groups of children studied were those experiencing adiposity takeoff, or those children whose fatness increased by at least 1.5 standard deviations above the mean from the previous year, and children whose adiposity did not increase during the year of the adiposity take-off or during the year before, considered the control group. A longitudinal study was performed including 125 subjects, all three to four years of age.

Seven skinfold sites were measured at four annual clinic visits. Both diet and activity were evaluated using four-day observation for each of the three summers between the four annual clinic visits. It was found that children who had experienced an adiposity take-off during the ages of three to seven consumed more energy from fat, more total calories, and a higher percentage of calories from fat and protein than did the control group. The adiposity take-off group was not found to show any significant differences in the amount of physical activity performed when compared to the control group. These findings suggest that childhood interventions to reduce dietary fat consumption may be effective with children as young as four years of age. Further research is needed to confirm that young children with higher body fatness also prefer to consume more energy as well as more energy in the form of fat.

Shay M. Robertson, Karen W. Cullen, Janice Baranowski, et al., Factors related to adiposity among children aged 3 to 7 years, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 99 (8): 938-943 (August 1999) [Correspondence: Tom Baranowski, PhD, Dept. of Behavioral Science-Box 243, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030-4095.]