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Protein Intake in Early Childhood Is not Associated with Adiposity, Height, or IGF‐I in Mid‐Childhood among Well‐Nourished Children in a U.S. Cohort
Author(s) -
Switkowski Karen,
Jacques Paul,
Must Aviva,
Oken Emily
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.443.3
Subject(s) - medicine , anthropometry , breastfeeding , quartile , childhood obesity , cohort , early childhood , body mass index , demography , cohort study , pediatrics , endocrinology , overweight , psychology , developmental psychology , confidence interval , sociology
Objective Our objective was to examine associations of protein intake in early childhood (~3y) with height, insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) levels, and measures of adiposity in mid‐childhood (~8y). In infancy, higher protein intake, typical of commercial formulas, has consistently been associated with higher IGF‐I levels and more rapid growth compared with intake of breast milk or lower protein formula. We aimed to test the hypothesis that protein intake in early childhood programs later growth. Methods We studied 1058 children in the Boston‐area Project Viva cohort. Mothers reported their children's early childhood diet using food frequency questionnaires. We adjusted protein intake for total energy and weight using residuals and categorized intake in g/d into quartiles. Using multivariable linear regression models adjusted for race/ethnicity, sex, family socioeconomic status, parental and birth anthropometrics, breastfeeding status, and certain mid‐childhood behaviors, we examined associations of early childhood protein intake with mid‐childhood adiposity (BMI z‐score, sum of subscapular and triceps (SS+TR) skinfolds and dual X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) fat mass), height z‐score and IGF‐I levels. Results The children were predominantly white (66%), and 70% had mothers with a college degree. Mean protein intake in early childhood was 58.2 g/d (3.78 g/kg/d), well above the U.S. recommendation of 13 g/d (1.1 g/kg/d) for ages 1–3y. There were no clear associations between protein intake in early childhood and adiposity, height, or IGF‐I levels in mid‐childhood in the overall sample or in separate analyses of boys and girls. In fully adjusted models, the βs (95% CIs) representing the difference in outcome corresponding to the highest vs. lowest quartile of protein intake were: 0.13 (−0.05, 0.30) for BMI z‐score; 0.02 (−1.66, 1.69) for SS+TR skinfolds (mm); −0.04 (−0.72, 0.63) for DXA fat mass (kg); 0.05 (−0.11, 0.21) for height z‐score; and −5.30 (−29.6, 19.0) for IGF‐I (ng/mL). Conclusions Our results do not support a role for early childhood protein intake in programming later adiposity or height growth in a sample of children with relatively high protein intake. Support or Funding Information Supported by the US National Institutes of Health (grant R01 HD034568, UG3 OD023286). Dr. Oken was supported by K24 HD069408 and P30 DK092924