Authors

Patricia Rey Fernández1, Lorena Corral Cao1

Position

1Enfermera Especialista en Obstetricia y Ginecología. Hospital de Verín. Verín (Ourense)

Contact address

Patricia Rey Fernández. Camiño das Fontes, 15. 32660 Allariz (Ourense).

Contact email: lapatrusca@hotmail.com

Abstract

Objective: to identify those factors associated with obesity in boys or girls during their first year of life, and to determine the relationship between the weight/height of the mother and the presence of overweight in newborns on the first year of life.
Method: an observational retrospective study in newborns (NBs) from primiparous mothers without any other condition, managed at the Hospital de Verín (January, 2014- April, 2017). Maternal variables were collected, as well as neonatal variables, type of feeding during their first year of life, and the anthropometric characteristics of the children at one month and 3, 6 and 12 months after birth. Descriptive, bivariate analysis was conducted, and correlations between characteristics of the mother and anthropometric values of the children.
Results: 6.03% of the NBs presented overweight or obesity; 9.2% had overweight at one month of life, 3.1% at 3 months, 5.3% at 6 months, and 16% at one year. Those who presented excess weight at one year were those with higher weight at birth; no relationship was found between overweight at birth and during their first year with the gestational characteristics of the mother. Boys presented slightly higher figures of body mass index (BMI) than girls during their first year of life, which was significant only at 3 months. There was also significant evidence regarding the association of maternal height with the weight/height of the NB over their first year of life. The type of feeding received during the first three months played an important role at the end of their first year: a reduction in their height and weight was observed in boys who were fed with formula in comparison with girls, whose weight increased in almost 1 kilo when breastfeeding was withdrawn from the third month onwards.
Conclusions: gestational characteristics were not associated with the presence of obesity during the first year of life; on the other hand, the characteristics of the child at the time of birth and type of feeding were associated with an excess weight at one year.

Keywords:

child obesity; prevalence; overweight; breastfeeding

Versión en Español

Título:

Factores asociados con el sobrepeso de los niños y las niñas en el primer año de vida