Associations of cord blood metabolites with early childhood obesity risk

Background/Objective: Rapid postnatal weight gain is a potentially modifiable risk factor for obesity and metabolic syndrome. To identify markers of rapid infancy weight gain and childhood obesity, we analyzed the metabolome in cord blood from infants differing in their postnatal weight trajectories. Methods: We performed a nested case–control study within Project Viva, a longitudinal cohort of mothers and children. We selected cases ( n =26) based on top quartile of change in weight-for-age 0–6 months and body mass index (BMI) >85th percentile in mid-childhood (median 7.7 years). Controls ( n =26) were age and sex matched, had normal postnatal weight gain (2nd or 3rd quartile of change in weight-for-age 0–6 months) and normal mid-childhood weight (BMI 25th–75th percentile). Cord blood metabolites were measured using untargeted liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry; individual metabolites and pathways differing between cases and controls were compared in categorical analyses. We adjusted metabolites for maternal age, maternal BMI and breastfeeding duration (linear regression), and assessed whether metabolites improved the ability to predict case–control status (logistic regression). Results: Of 415 detected metabolites, 16 were altered in cases versus controls ( t -test, nominal P