ArticleJAMA network open2025
Early-Life Factors and Body Mass Index Trajectories Among Children in the ECHO Cohort.
Article in JAMA network open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differential methylation at novel putative imprinting control regions on chromosome 20 associated with childhood obesity.Epigenetics · 2026Article
- Changes in Body Mass Index Following Pediatric Tonsillectomy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.Cureus · 2026Article
- Heavy moms, wheezy kids: how maternal obesity harms breathing in offspring.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026Review
- Prenatal Internal Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Maternal Genetic Susceptibility, and Child Growth Trajectories: Evidence from a Prospective Cohort Study.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Caregiver Feeding Practices and Late-Preschool BMI-for-Age z-Score Trajectories Among WIC-Enrolled Children: A National Longitudinal Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Industrial Food Systems as Environmental Drivers of Women's Health and Childhood Obesity: A Cross-National Ecological Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Early childhood weight gain and alanine aminotransferase at age 8: an adjunct study of the Japan Environment and Children's Study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Environmental Determinants of Pediatric Obesity: An Epidemiological Review.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Pediatrics advances in 2024: choices in allergy, cardiology, critical care, endocrinology, gastroenterology, immunology, infectious diseases, neonatology, nephrology, neurology, nutrition, palliative care respiratory tract illnesses, and social media.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2025Review
- Brain Microstructure and Obesity Risk in Early Childhood: Insights from Restriction Spectrum Imaging.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Macrosomia and Childhood Growth Trajectories From Birth to 10 Years of Age: Findings From the ROLO Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.Journal of obesity · 2025Article
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41 authors.
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Abstract
Importance: Identifying atypical body mass index (BMI) trajectories in children and understanding associated, modifiable early-life factors may help prevent childhood obesity. Objective: To characterize multiphase BMI trajectories in children and identify associated modifiable early-life factors. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included longitudinal data obtained from January 1997 to June 2024, from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort, which included children aged 1 to 9 years with 4 or more weight and height assessments. Analyses were conducted from January to June 2024. Exposures: Prenatal exposure to substances and stress (smoking, alcohol, depression, anxiety), maternal characteristics (prepregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain), child characteristics (preterm birth, birth weight, breastfeeding), and demographic covariates. Main Outcomes and Measures: BMI (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by length in meters squared for children aged 1 and 2 years and as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared for children older than 2 years) obtained using medical records, staff measurements, caregiver reports, or remote study measures. The analysis was conducted using a multiphase latent growth mixture model. Results: This study included 9483 children (4925 boys [51.9%]). Two distinct 2-phase BMI patterns were identified: typical and atypical. The typical group (n = 8477 [89.4%]) showed linear decreases in BMI (b2, -0.23 [95% CI, -0.24 to -0.22]), with the lowest BMI at age 6 years (95% CI, 5.94-6.11), followed by linear increases from 6 to 9 years (slope difference [b4 - b2], 0.81 [95% CI, 0.76-0.86]; mean BMI at 9 years: 17.33). The atypical group (n = 1006 [10.6%]) showed a stable BMI from ages 1 to 3.5 years (b6, 0.06 [95% CI, -0.04 to 0.15]), followed by rapid linear increases from ages 3.5 to 9 years (slope difference [b8 - b6], 1.44 [95% CI, 1.34-1.55]). At age 9 years, this group reached a mean BMI (26.2) that exceeded the 99th percentile. Prenatal smoking, high prepregnancy BMI, high gestational weight gain, and high birth weight were key risk factors for the atypical trajectory. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of children in the ECHO cohort, analyses identified children on the path to obesity as early as age 3.5 years. Modifiable factors could be targeted for early prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing childhood obesity.
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