Adiposity Development in Childhood and Adolescence

Adiposity development throughout childhood and adolescence represents a dynamic interplay of genetic predisposition, intrauterine and early‐life influences, nutritional exposures and behavioural factors. Following an initial peak in infancy, body mass index (BMI) typically declines until a nadir is reached and then rises again in a process known as adiposity rebound. The timing and rate of this rebound reflect underlying metabolic programming and foreshadow trajectories of fat accumulation into adulthood. Variations in growth patterns—such as rapid infancy weight gain, catch-up growth among small-for-gestational-age infants and shifts in BMI trajectories during puberty—have been linked to future cardiometabolic risk. Across diverse populations, early adiposity rebound and accelerated BMI increases are robust predictors of persistent obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular complications. Recognition of these critical windows supports the design of targeted interventions, ranging from optimised nutritional counselling in infancy to school-based physical activity programmes, with the aim of promoting healthy growth and mitigating long-term disease burden.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A longitudinal cohort study of small-for-gestational-age children in Japan has demonstrated that gestational age at birth exerts a major influence on both height catch-up and BMI trajectories during the first three years of life. Infants born at term exhibited a more rapid height recovery and a less variable BMI pattern, whereas those born preterm showed delayed catch-up and an increased tendency for early adiposity rebound before age three. This work provides foundational evidence that the intrauterine environment and maturational timing profoundly shape early adiposity dynamics and highlight the necessity of gestational-age-specific growth monitoring.

Adiposity Development in Childhood and Adolescence publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in adiposity development in childhood and adolescence across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Adiposity rebound: The age at which BMI reaches its lowest point in early childhood and then begins to increase, typically around 4–7 years.

Body mass index (BMI): A weight‐for‐height index calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared, used as a proxy for adiposity.

Small-for-gestational-age (SGA): Infants born with a weight below the 10th percentile for their gestational age.

Catch-up growth: A period of accelerated growth that allows a child to return to a genetically or population-determined growth trajectory after a phase of restriction.

Prematurity: Birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation, often associated with distinct postnatal growth and adiposity patterns.

References

1. Gestational age-dependency of height and body mass index trajectories during the first 3 years in Japanese small-for-gestational age children. Scientific Reports (2016).
2. Association between perinatal factors, genetic susceptibility to obesity and age at adiposity rebound in children of the EDEN mother–child cohort. International Journal of Obesity (2021).
3. Rapid BMI Increases and Persistent Obesity in Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants. Frontiers in Pediatrics (2021).