Effects of Fat Mass on Motor Development During the First 2 Years of Life

Abstract

This study characterized total body fat mass (FM) and motor development during the first 2 years of life in healthy infants. Participants (n = 469) from the Beginnings Study cohort, a prospective, longitudinal study of early infant feeding, were assessed at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months of age for a total of 2231 observations. Growth was evaluated using standard anthropometric techniques, and body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Motor development was evaluated using Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Mixed-effects models adjusted for race, sex, gestational age, birth weight, birth length, and maternal education were used for data analyses. Greater weight-for-length Z-scores and overweight status were negatively associated with subsequent psychomotor development index (PDI) scores (P