Small for gestational age and anthropometric body composition from early childhood to adulthood: the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study.

Background: In Australia the estimated rate of small for gestational age (SGA) births is 9% among non-Indigenous births compared to 14% among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. There is limited research investigating the effect of being born SGA on body composition later in life in Indigenous Australians. Methods: Using data from the Aboriginal Birth Cohort longitudinal study, we compared the body composition of those born SGA to non-SGA by analysing anthropometric measures (height, weight, waist circumference, fat percentage [FAT%], body mass index [BMI], waist-to-height ratio, and A body shape index [ABSI]) collected at four follow-up periods (from childhood to adult). For cross-sectional analyses, linear regression models were employed to assess factors associated with anthropometric measures. For longitudinal analyses linear mixed models were employed to assess differences in anthropometric measures among SGA versus non-SGA individuals while adjusting for repeated measures. Results: The analytic baseline cohort were those who participated in Wave 2 ( Conclusion: Indigenous Australians born SGA are smaller anthropometrically later in life compared to their non-SGA counterparts. In remote communities, those born SGA had higher levels of central adiposity compared to non-SGA.