Early Life Factors and Inter-Country Heterogeneity in BMI Growth Trajectories of European Children: The IDEFICS Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Starting from birth, this explorative study aimed to investigate between-country differences in body mass index (BMI) trajectories and whether early life factors explain these differences.

Methods

The sample included 7,644 children from seven European countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden) participating in the multi-centre IDEFICS study. Information on early life factors and in total 53,409 repeated measurements of height and weight from 0 to <12 years of age were collected during the baseline (2007/2008) and follow-up examination (2009/2010) supplemented by records of routine child health visits. Country-specific BMI growth curves were estimated using fractional polynomial mixed effects models. Several covariates focussing on early li

SUBMITTER: Bornhorst C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4762899 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature