Low birth weight kids prone to gain fat early

NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) Children who are born small show ''catch-up'' weight gain up to 2 years of age, then exhibit a ''dramatic transition'' to having more body and belly fat, European researchers report.

This tendency is accompanied by a risk of developing resistance to the effects of the blood sugar regulating hormone insulin by age 4, suggesting an increased likelihood of diabetes down the road.

''Understanding the mechanisms underlying this predisposition to adverse future health could lead to specific preventive interventions during early childhood,'' Dr Lourdes Ibanez of the Hospital Sant Joan de Deu at the University of Barcelona and colleagues write in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology&Metabolism.

While low birth weight followed by rapid catch-up weight gain has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, the researchers note, the timing of this risk-boosting weight gain has not been clear.

To investigate, the researchers followed 29 small-for-gestational-age children and 22 children of normal birth weight, evaluating their body composition and insulin sensitivity at ages 2, 3 and 4 years.

The body composition of the two groups was identical at age 2, the researchers report, but between age 2 and 4 increases in body fat and abdominal fat were ''strikingly higher'' in the low birth weight kids.

Further analysis found weight gain in the first 2 years of life was strongly associated with the amount of total and belly fat gained up to age 4.

The low birth weight children also showed a shift from insulin sensitivity to resistance.

Preventing excessive weight gain in infancy could reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease and obesity in low birth weight children, the researchers note, while a better understanding of how this weight gain contributes to disease risk could help in the development of more specific prevention strategies.

However, the researchers add, ''future intervention studies are needed before translating such observations into public health messages.'' REUTERS SBA RAI0908