Objective To explore the long‐term impact of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) among a diverse, contemporary cohort of US children. Design and Methods A retrospective cohort of 42 children exposed to IUGR and 464 unexposed who were members of Kaiser Permanente of Colorado. Height and weight measurements since birth and measures of abdominal adiposity and insulin‐resistance were measured at an average age of 10.6 (±1.3) years. Results Infants born IUGR experienced “catch‐up growth” in the first 12 months of life at a rate of 3.58 kg/m² compared to 2.36 kg/m² in unexposed infants (P = 0.01). However, after 1 year of age, no differences in BMI growth velocity were observed. Nevertheless children exposed to IUGR had higher waist circumference (67.0 vs. 65.3 cm, P = 0.03), higher insulin (15.2 vs. 11.0 μU/ml, P = 0.0002), higher HOMA‐IR (2.8 vs. 2.3, P = 0.03), and lower adiponectin levels (9.0 vs. 12.0 μg/ml, P = 0.003) in adolescence, independent of other childhood and maternal factors. Conclusions Our data from a contemporary US cohort suggests that children exposed to IUGR have increased abdominal fat and increased insulin resistance biomarkers despite no differences in BMI growth patterns beyond 12 months of age. These data provide further support for the fetal programming hypothesis.

Context: The impact of specific maternal fuels and metabolic measures during early and late gestation on neonatal body composition is not well defined. Objective: To determine how circulating maternal glucose, lipids, and insulin resistance in the first and second halves of pregnancy influence neonatal body composition. Design: A prospective pre-birth cohort enrolling pregnant women, the Healthy Start Study, was conducted, in which fasting maternal serum samples were collected twice during pregnancy to measure glucose, insulin, hemoglobin A1c, triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and free fatty acids. Neonatal body composition was measured with air displacement plethysmography. Setting: An observational epidemiology study of pregnant women attending obstetric clinics at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Center. Participants: This analysis includes 804 maternal-neonate pairs. Results: A strong positive linear relationship between maternal estimated insulin resistance (homeostasis model of assessment for insulin resistance) in the first half of pregnancy and neonatal fat mass (FM) and FM percentage (FM%) was detected, independent of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI). In the second half of pregnancy, positive linear relationships between maternal glucose levels and offspring FM and FM% were observed, independent of prepregnancy BMI. An inverse relationship was detected between high-density lipoprotein in the first half of pregnancy and FM, independent of prepregnancy BMI. Free fatty acid levels in the second half of pregnancy were positively associated with higher birth weight, independent of prepregnancy BMI. Conclusion: Maternal insulin resistance in the first half of pregnancy is highly predictive of neonatal FM%, whereas maternal glycemia, even within the normal range, is an important driver of neonatal adiposity in later pregnancy, independent of prepregnancy BMI. Our data provide additional insights on potential maternal factors responsible for fetal fat accretion and early development of adiposity.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of breast-feeding on the body mass index (BMI) growth trajectory from birth through 13 years of age among offspring of diabetic pregnancies (ODP) and offspring of non-diabetic pregnancies (ONDP) participating in the Exploring Perinatal Outcomes Among Children Study. Subjects: There were 94 ODP and 399 ONDP who had multiple BMI measures obtained from birth throughout childhood. A measure of breast milk-months was derived from maternal self-report to categorize breast-feeding status as adequate (⩾6 breast milk-months) or low (<6 breast milk-months). Mixed linear-effects models were constructed to assess the impact of breast-feeding on the BMI growth curves during infancy (birth to 27 months) and childhood (27 months to 13 years). Results: ODP who were adequately breast-fed had a slower BMI growth trajectory during childhood (P=0.047) and slower period-specific growth velocity with significant differences between 4 and 6 years of age (P=0.03) and 6 to 9 years of age (P=0.01) compared with ODP with low breast-feeding. A similar pattern was seen in the ONDP, with adequate breast-feeding associated with lower average BMI in infancy (P=0.03) and childhood (P=0.0002) and a slower growth trajectory in childhood (P=0.0002). Slower period-specific growth velocity was seen among the ONDP associated with adequate breast-feeding with significant differences between 12–26 months (P=0.02), 4–6 years (P=0.03), 6–9 years (P=0.0001) and 9–13 years of age (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Our study provides novel evidence that breast-feeding is associated with long-term effects on childhood BMI growth that extend beyond infancy into early and late childhood. Importantly, these effects are also present in the high-risk offspring, exposed to overnutrition during pregnancy. Breast-feeding in the early postnatal period may represent a critical opportunity to reduce the risk of childhood obesity.