Longitudinal Changes in General Overweight and Obesity, and Central Obesity from Birth to Early Adolescence

Aims: This study aimed to examine the associations between both birth weight (BW) and body mass index (BMI)/waist circumference (WC) measured at ages 7–10 years, and adolescent overweight (OW)/obesity (OB), and central OB at ages 11–13 years. Methods: Longitudinal data were collected from children’s and parents’ questionnaires. Anthropometric data were obtained from health check-ups. BW (kg) was categorized into three groups: <3.0, 3.0–3.9 and ≥4.0 (macrosomia). Underweight (UW)/normal weight (NW), OW and OB were defined based on sex- and age-specific reference values for Chinese children. Central OB was identified using the sex-specific waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) cutoffs. Results: Of the 1204 children, 14.5% had a BW < 3.0 and 15.6% had macrosomia. The rates of OB and central OB were 10.13% and 28.32%, respectively, among children aged 7–10 years and 6.23% and 23.34%, respectively, among those aged 11–13 years. An increasing BW z-score was associated with higher odds of OW/OB in girls aged 11–13 years. Childhood BMI and WC z-scores were associated with higher odds of OW/OB and central OB, respectively, at ages 11–13 years. Childhood OW/OB and central OB were associated with a higher risk of OW/OB and central OB, respectively, at ages 11–13 years. Conclusions: BW was modestly associated with OW/OB in girls. Childhood BMI was the strongest predictor of OW/OB, while childhood WC was a strong and significant predictor of central OB in early adolescence. These findings highlight that early school age is a critical period for risk identification and the implementation of future preventive strategies.