ReviewAdvances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)2012
Biological determinants linking infant weight gain and child obesity: current knowledge and future directions.
Review in Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 143 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breastfeeding and risk of overweight in childhood and beyond: a systematic review with emphasis on sibling-pair and intervention studies.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- The impact of maternal obesity on human milk macronutrient composition: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Global school-based childhood obesity interventions: a review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014Pooled it
- Timing of Complementary Feeding in Preterm Infants and Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Associations between children's dietary patterns, excessive weight gain, and obesity risk: cohort study nested to a randomized field trial.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2025Trial
- Effect of a Short Messaging Service (SMS) intervention delivered to caregivers on energy, nutrients, and food groups intake in infant participants of the WIC program.Frontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Impact of infant protein supply and other early life factors on plasma metabolome at 5.5 and 8 years of age: a randomized trial.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2020Trial
- Association of infant formula composition and anthropometry at 4 years: Follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (BeMIM study).PloS one · 2018Trial
- Multi-site trial using short mobile messages (SMS) to improve infant weight in low-income minorities: Development, implementation, lessons learned and future applications.Contemporary clinical trials · 2017Trial
- Infant adiposity following a randomised controlled trial of a behavioural intervention in obese pregnancy.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2017Trial
- Effect of the INSIGHT Responsive Parenting Intervention on Rapid Infant Weight Gain and Overweight Status at Age 1 Year: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA pediatrics · 2016Trial
- Bottle Size and Weight Gain in Formula-Fed Infants.Pediatrics · 2016Trial
- Rapid Infancy Weight Gain and 7- to 9-year Childhood Obesity Risk: A Prospective Cohort Study in Rural Western China.Medicine · 2016Trial
- High protein intake from meat as complementary food increases growth but not adiposity in breastfed infants: a randomized trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2014Trial
- Preconception maternal nutrition: a multi-site randomized controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2014Trial
- Effect of a Multi-Site Trial using Short Message Service (SMS) on Infant Feeding Practices and Weight Gain in Low-Income Minorities.Journal of the American College of NutritionTrial
- Breastfeeding type is associated with urinary metabolic changes in early life: influence of sex and early weight gain in healthy term infants.Molecular and cellular pediatrics · 2026Article
- Targeted proteomics reveal association between maternal biomarkers and child body weight in the first year of life.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Article
- Comparative Analysis of Adipokines and Growth Factors in Preterm and Term Breast Milk and Their Role in Infant Growth.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Childhood obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions. Excessive weight gain in infancy is associated with persistence of elevated weight status and later obesity. In this review, we make the case that weight gain in the first 6 mo is especially predictive of later obesity risk due to the metabolic programming that can occur early postpartum. The current state of knowledge regarding the biological determinants of excess infant weight gain is reviewed, with particular focus on infant feeding choice. Potential mechanisms by which different feeding approaches may program the metabolic profile of the infant, causing the link between early weight gain and later obesity are proposed. These mechanisms are likely highly complex and involve synergistic interactions between endocrine effects and factors that alter the inflammatory and oxidative stress status of the infant. Gaps in current knowledge are highlighted. These include a lack of data describing 1) what type of infant body fat distribution may impart risk and 2) how maternal metabolic dysfunction (obesity and/or diabetes) may affect milk composition and exert downstream effects on infant metabolism. Improved understanding and management of these early postnatal determinants of childhood obesity may have great impact on reducing its prevalence.
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Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.