Evidence mapPaperPMID 37940360Full record

SynthesisArchives of disease in childhood2024

Infant fat mass and later child and adolescent health outcomes: a systematic review.

Federica Amati, Lucy McCann, Eurídice Castañeda-Gutiérrez, Emily Prior, Carolien Annika van Loo-Bouwman, Marieke Abrahamse-Berkeveld, Elena Oliveros, Susan Ozanne, Michael Edward Symonds, Ching-Yu Chang and 1 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Archives of disease in childhood, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Body composition at 2 years of age in moderate and late preterm infants.Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2026
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  4. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Federica AmatiDepartment of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK f.amati@imperial.ac.uk.
Lucy McCannCentre for Primary Care, Wolfson Insitute of Population Health, Queen Mary University, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6495-7747
Eurídice Castañeda-GutiérrezHealth and Happiness Group, H&H Research, Geneva, Switzerland.
Emily PriorSection of Neonatal Medicine, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7827-4912
Carolien Annika van Loo-BouwmanInnovation, Yili Innovation Centre Europe, Yili Innovation Center Europe, Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-3365-9229
Marieke Abrahamse-BerkeveldDepartment of Nutritional Physiology and Functional Nutrients, Danone Nutricia Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Elena OliverosAbbott Nutrition Research and Development, Abbott Laboratories, Granada, Spain.
Susan OzanneMetabolic Research Laboratories and MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Michael Edward SymondsCentre for Perinatal Research, Academic Unit of Population and Lifespan Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Ching-Yu ChangInternational Life Science Institute, International Life Science Institute, European Branch, Brussels, Belgium.
Neena ModiSection of Neonatal Medicine, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2093-0681

Funding

British Heart Foundation RG/17/12/33167Medical Research Council MC_UU_00014/4
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveObesity and excess adiposity are leading causes of metabolic and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Early identification of individuals at risk is key for preventive strategies. We examined the relationship between infant body composition (0-2 years of age) and later (>2 years) health outcomes using a systematic review.

designWe preregistered the study on PROSPERO (ID 288013) and searched Embase, PubMed and Cochrane databases for English language publications using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms 'infant' and 'body composition' and 'risk' between January 1946 and February 2022. We included studies which assessed infant body composition using predetermined in vivo methods other than body mass index (BMI).

resultsWe identified 6015 articles. After abstract screening to assess eligibility, we reviewed 130 full text publications. 30 were included in the final assessment and narrative synthesis. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity of results. All 30 studies were of high quality and reported associations between infant body composition and 19 different health outcomes after 2 years of age. Outcome measurements ranged from 2 years to 16 years. The strongest associations were found between infant fat mass and later fat mass (7 studies), and later BMI (5 studies). For 11 of the outcomes assessed, there was no relationship to infant adiposity detected.

conclusionsCurrent evidence, from a small number of studies, suggests a positive association between infant adiposity and future adiposity or BMI, but the validity of infant body composition as a biomarker of future health remains inconclusive. Carefully designed, standardised studies are required to identify the value of infant body composition for predicting later health.

trial registrationPROSPERO: 288013.

Indexed as

Adolescent HealthObesityAdiposityAdolescentBody CompositionBody Mass IndexChildChild, PreschoolHumansInfantInfant, Newbornchild healthepidemiologygrowthobesity

Identifiers

PMID37940360
PMCPMC10850671

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.