The impact of body weight trajectory from childhood on chronic inflammation in adulthood: The Bogalusa Heart Study

Abstract

Importance: The impact of long-term burden of excessive body weight, beginning in childhood, on inflammatory status in adulthood has been poorly described. Objective: To characterize the longitudinal body mass index (BMI) trajectory from childhood and examine its relationship with inflammatory status in adulthood. Methods: We included 1285 adults who had 4–15 repeat measurements of BMI from childhood to adulthood. The area under the curve (AUC) of growth curves was calculated to characterize long-term burden (total AUC) and trends (incremental AUC) of BMI. Results: After adjusting for covariates, higher values of BMI in terms of childhood and adulthood, as well as total and incremental AUC, were strongly associated with elevated levels of adult C-reactive protein (CRP) in the four race-sex groups. There were significant differences in linear and nonlinear curve parameters between the normal and high CRP groups for all race-sex groups (P < 0.01). Compared with participants who had consistently low BMI in both childhood and adulthood, participants with high BMI in adulthood had higher CRP levels (P < 0.001), irrespective of their childhood BMI status; participants with high BMI in childhood but low BMI in adulthood had similar adult CRP levels. Interpretation: The impact of excessive body weight on inflammation is cumulative and exacerbated over time. The influence of childhood overweight/obesity on inflammatory status in adulthood can be alleviated by reducing adiposity in adulthood.