Associations of fat and fat-free mass at birth and accretion from 0 to 5 years with cognitive function at later childhood: the Ethiopian infant anthropometry and body composition birth cohort.

Ali, Rahma; Zinab, Beakal; Megersa, Bikila S; Yilma, Daniel; Girma, Tsinuel; Admassu, Bitiya; Filteau, Suzanne; Friis, Henrik; Wells, Jonathan CK; Marphatia, Akanksha A; +3 more... Olsen, Mette F; Wibaek, Rasmus; Abera, Mubarek; (2024) Associations of fat and fat-free mass at birth and accretion from 0 to 5 years with cognitive function at later childhood: the Ethiopian infant anthropometry and body composition birth cohort. The British journal of nutrition. pp. 1-8. ISSN 0007-1145 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114524002605

Abstract

Early childhood growth is associated with cognitive function. However, the independent associations of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) with cognitive function are not well understood. We investigated associations of FM and FFM at birth and 0-5 years accretion with cognitive function at 10 years. Healthy-term newborns were enrolled in this cohort. FM and FFM were measured at birth, 1·5, 2·5, 3·5, 4·5 and 6 months and 4 and 5 years. Cognitive function was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) at 10 years. FM and FFM accretions were computed using statistically independent conditional accretion from 0 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 months to 4 years and 4 to 5 years. Multiple linear regression was used to assess associations. At the 10-year follow-up, we assessed 318 children with a mean (sd) age of 9·8 (1·0) years. A 1 sd higher birth FFM was associated with a 0·14 sd (95 % CI 0·01, 0·28) higher PPVT at 10 years. FFM accretion from 0 to 3 and 3 to 6 months was associated with PPVT at 10 years: β = 0·5 sd (95 % CI 0·08, 0·93) and β = -0·48 sd (95 % CI -0·90, -0·07, respectively. FFM accretion after 6 months showed no association with PPVT. Neither FM at birth nor 0-5 years accretion showed an association with PPVT. Overall, birth FFM, but not FM, was associated with cognitive function at 10 years, while the association of FFM accretion and cognitive function varied across distinct developmental stages in infancy. The mechanisms underlying this varying association between body composition and cognitive function need further investigation.

Additional Information

Item Type	Article
Faculty and Department	Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Population Health (2012- ) Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases > Dept of Disease Control
Research Centre	Centre for Maternal, Reproductive and Child Health (MARCH)
PubMed ID	39552599
Elements ID	232753
Official URL	http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0007114524002605

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