Association of nutrition in early life with body fat and serum leptin at adult age

Background: There is overwhelming evidence that experiences during early life could have long-term health consequences. However, the role of early nutrition in programming obesity and leptin resistance is still poorly understood. Objective: We aimed at determining whether nutritional intakes in early life are associated with body composition and hormonal status at 20 years. Subjects: Healthy infants participating in the two-decade-long prospective ELANCE (Etude Longitudinale Alimentation Nutrition Croissance des Enfants) study were examined at 10 months and 2 years. At 20 years, weight, height, subscapular and triceps skinfold thicknesses, fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) assessed via bioelectrical impedance analysis, and serum leptin concentration were recorded in 73 subjects still participating in the follow-up. Results: In adjusted linear regression models, an increase by 100 kcal in energy intake at 2 years was associated with higher subscapular skinfold thickness ( β =6.4% SF, 95% confidence interval 2.53–10.30, P =0.002) and higher FFM (0.50 kg, 0.06–0.95, P =0.03) at 20 years. An increase by 1% energy from fat at 2 years was associated with lower subscapular skinfold thickness (−2.3% SF, −4.41 to −0.18, P =0.03), lower FM (−0.31 kg, −0.60 to −0.01, P =0.04) and lower serum leptin concentration (−0.21 μg l −1 , −0.39 to −0.03, P =0.02) at 20 years. Conclusions: Low-fat intake in early life was negatively associated with body fat (particularly at the trunk site) and serum leptin concentration at 20 years, suggesting that early low-fat intake could increase the susceptibility to develop overweight and leptin resistance at later ages. These findings substantiate current recommendations against restricting fat intake in early life and open new directions for investigating the origin of obesity. Editor's Note: This paper describes a negative correlation of fat intake in children at 10 months and two years of age with body weight, body fat, and serum leptin at age 20. The practice of giving children a low fat diet, particularly those under the age of two, is postulated by the authors to produce epigenetic changes leading to greater degrees of adiposity in adulthood. Many governmental dietary guidelines recommend full fat milk under age two, but this is ignored by up to two-thirds of parents. Education of parents is needed to alter this pattern. In addition, these data raise the troubling question of whether current recommendations for consumption of l