Effects of dietary intake patterns from 1 to 4 years on BMI z-score and body shape at age of 6 years: a prospective birth cohort study from Brazil

PURPOSE: To assess the association between dietary intake patterns from 1 to 4 years and BMI and body shape at age of 6 years. METHODS: This longitudinal study was based on 3374 Brazilian children from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study. We used previously described dietary patterns from 1 to 4 years as the main exposure. We defined body shape using scores for corpulence (a recently described body shape component measured by Photonic Scanner), and trunk and gynoid fat mass percentage from DXA. We run linear regression models to evaluate the associations between dietary patterns from 1 to 4 years and BMI and body shape at 6 years. RESULTS: Several apparent associations between dietary patterns and BMI or body shape were explained by sociodemographic factors. High adherence to snacks (positive loadings to coffee, bread and cookies) at 4 years predicted lower BMI, but higher gynoid fat mass percentage at 6 years, while higher adherence to staple at 2 years (positive loadings to rice and beans) predicted higher trunk fat mass and lower gynoid fat mass. Finally, higher scores on milks at 1 year (positive loading to breast milk) predicted higher gynoid fat mass at 6 years. CONCLUSION: There were inconsistent associations between dietary patterns in infancy and early childhood and BMI and body shape at 6 years. In adjusted analyses, higher adherence to breast milk at 1 year and to snacks at 4 years appeared to be beneficial for body shape, associated with lower BMI, but higher peripheral fat. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00394-018-1720-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.