Associations between abdominal adiposity, body size and objectively measured physical activity in infants from Soweto, South Africa.
Authors
Rolfe, Emanuella De Lucia
Micklesfield, Lisa K
Publication Date
2022-05-25Journal Title
Matern Child Health J
ISSN
1092-7875
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Prioreschi, A., Ong, K., Rolfe, E. D. L., Westgate, K., Micklesfield, L. K., & Brage, S. (2022). Associations between abdominal adiposity, body size and objectively measured physical activity in infants from Soweto, South Africa.. Matern Child Health J https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-022-03406-5
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Considering the importance of the early life period, in conjunction with the increasing prevalence of adiposity and insufficient physical activity already evident in early childhood, this study aimed to determine associations between abdominal adiposity, body size, and objectively measured physical activity in infancy. METHODS: Infants (n = 138, aged 3-24 months) from Soweto, South Africa were recruited to this cross-sectional study. Visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal fat (SAT) were measured using ultrasound. Physical activity was assessed using accelerometry and analysed at the hourly level. Multilevel linear regression analyses were run with body composition exposures adjusted for age, sex, and length; models with VAT and SAT were also adjusted for total abdominal fat. RESULTS: Mean (SD) age was 11.8 (7.6) months; 86% were normal weight, 7% were underweight and 7% overweight. In linear models, no body composition variable was significantly associated with physical activity. Physical activity was higher with each increasing length tertile (ANOVA p < 0.01); with a mean(95%CI) 29(60-60)mg in the lowest tertile, 39(71-71)mg in the middle tertile, and 50(81-82)mg in the highest tertile. Infants with normal weight had higher mean(95%CI) physical activity (40(70-80)mg) than underweight (34(73-85)mg, p = 0.01) or overweight infants (31(63-78)mg, ANOVA p < 0.01). When also adjusting for total abdominal fat, infants in the lowest SAT tertile had higher physical activity than those in the middle or highest SAT tertiles (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings lend support for higher physical activity as a marker of healthy growth in the first two years of life.
Sponsorship
The support of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in the Republic of South Africa is hereby acknowledged by AP. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not to be attributed to the CoE in Human Development. AP was also supported by the Claude Leon Foundation. KO, SB and KW were supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC UU 12015/2 and MC UU 12015/3) and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Cambridge [IS-BRC-1215-20014]. LKM acknowledges funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences-Newton Advanced Fellowship. None of the funders were involved in the design of the study, collection or analysis or interpretation of the data, or in writing of the manuscript.
Funder references
MRC (MC_UU_00006/2)
MRC (MC_UU_00006/4)
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) (146281)
National Institute for Health Research (IS-BRC-1215-20014)
Embargo Lift Date
2023-05-25
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-022-03406-5
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/334916
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