Early rapid weight gain, parental body mass index and the association with an increased waist-to-height ratio at 5 years of age

Obesity-related adverse health consequences are closely associated with abdominal obesity. Risk factors for overweight and obesity have been studied but there is a lack of information regarding risk factors for abdominal obesity, especially in the preschool population. The aim of the present study was to examine early life risk factors for an increased waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in children at five years of age and, in addition, to investigate if these risk factors also were associated with overweight or obesity. At five years of age, 15% of the children had WHtR.sub.SDS [greater than or equal to] 1 and 11% had overweight or obesity. In multivariable analyses, rapid weight gain (RWG) during 0-6 months (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.23-2.95, p = 0.004), maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (1.06, 1.01-1.11, p = 0.019) and paternal BMI (1.11, 1.01-1.21, p = 0.028) were associated with WHtR.sub.SDS [greater than or equal to] 1. RWG during 0-6 months (2.53, 1.53-4.20, p