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Insulin-like growth factor I concentrations in infancy predict differential gains in body length and adiposity: the Cambridge Baby Growth Study^1,2,3

¹ From the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom (KKO); the Department of Paediatrics, the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom (KKO, KW, IAH, CLA, and DBD); and the University Children's Hospital, Tübingen, Germany (ML and MBR).

² The Cambridge Baby Growth Study was supported by the World Cancer Research Fund International, the European Union (EU Framework V), the Medical Research Council, and the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.

³ Address reprint requests and correspondence to KK Ong, MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Box 285, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: ken.ong{at}mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk.

Background: Formula milk–fed infants show faster rates of growth and weight gain than do breastfed infants, and they have higher concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I).

Objective: Our objective was to determine the influence of IGF-I concentrations on gains in weight, length, body mass index (BMI), and adiposity in the first year of life.

Design: IGF-I concentrations were measured in 953 capillary blood samples from 675 unselected infants at ages 3 and 12 mo. These infants were born between 2002 and 2008 in one center and were participating in a prospective longitudinal birth cohort. Weight, length, and 4 skinfold thicknesses as an indicator of adiposity were measured at ages 0, 3, and 12 mo. Analyses were adjusted for age and sex.

Results: Infants who were formula milk–fed had higher IGF-I concentrations at 3 mo, and they showed greater gains in weight, length, BMI, and adiposity between age 3 and 12 mo. IGF-I concentrations at 3 mo were unrelated to subsequent overall weight gain (P = 0.5). However, higher IGF-I concentrations at age 3 mo predicted greater subsequent gains in body length (P < 0.001 and P = 0.007 in formula milk–fed and breastfed infants, respectively) and slower gains in BMI (P < 0.001 and P = 0.004, respectively) and adiposity (P = 0.03 and P = 0.003, respectively).

Conclusions: Our findings support a key role for IGF-I in the partitioning of overall infant weight gain into statural growth compared with adiposity. In formula milk–fed infants, higher IGF-I concentrations may lead to faster gains in length; however, other mechanisms likely explain their faster gains in weight, BMI, and adiposity.

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