Affiliation:
1. Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
3. Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
Abstract
Abstract
Context
It is unclear how fat mass accretion in early life is related to glucose–insulin homeostasis.
Objective
Examine associations of fat and fat-free mass accretion from birth to early childhood with glucose–insulin homeostasis in early childhood in a multi-ethnic cohort.
Methods
Observational Healthy Start study with data collection from 2010 to 2020. Air displacement plethysmography at birth and 4.8 (SD 0.7) years estimated fat mass percent (FMP, %), fat mass index (FMI, kg/m2), and fat-free mass index (FFMI, kg/m2). General population recruited from academic obstetrics clinics in Denver, Colorado, consisting of 419 mother/offspring dyads. The main outcome measures were fasting glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment-2 insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR), and beta-cell function (HOMA2-B) at 4.8 years.
Results
Greater fat mass accretion from birth to early childhood was associated with higher fasting glucose (ΔFMP β = 0.20 [95% CI 0.06-0.34], ΔFMI β = 0.90 [0.30-1.50]) in participants of Hispanic, Black, and Other races/ethnicities, while greater fat-free mass accretion was associated with higher fasting glucose in non-Hispanic White participants (ΔFFMI β = 0.76 [0.21-1.32]). Overall, greater fat, but not fat-free, mass accretion was also associated with higher insulin (ΔFMP β = 0.14 [0.09-0.18], ΔFMI 0.71 [0.51-0.92]), HOMA2-IR (FMP β = 0.02 [0.01-0.02], ΔFMI β = 0.09 [0.06-0.12]), and HOMA2-B (ΔFMP β = 0.92 [0.18-1.36], ΔFMI β = 4.76 [2.79-6.73]).
Conclusion
Greater fat mass accretion in infancy and childhood is associated with shifts in fasting glucose in children of Hispanic, Black, and Other races/ethnicities at 5 years of age. Body composition beginning in early life is relevant for metabolic health, and precise assessments of adiposity in pediatric research are needed.
Funder
National Institutes of Health
Subject
Biochemistry (medical),Clinical Biochemistry,Endocrinology,Biochemistry,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism