scholarly journals Prenatal and Early-Life Environmental Factors, Family Demographics and Cortical Brain Anatomy in 5-Year-Olds: An MRI Study From FinnBrain Birth Cohort

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eero Silver ◽  
Elmo P. Pulli ◽  
Eeva-Leena Kataja ◽  
Venla Kumpulainen ◽  
Anni Copeland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Brain Anatomy ◽  
Brain Volumes ◽  
Family Demographics

Abstract The human brain develops dynamically during early childhood, when the child is sensitive to both genetic programming and extrinsic exposures. Recent studies have found links between prenatal and early life environmental factors, family demographics and the cortical brain morphology in newborns measured by surface area, volume and thickness. Here in this magnetic resonance imaging study, we evaluated whether a similar set of variables associates with cortical surface area and volumes measured in a sample of 170 healthy 5-year-olds from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. We found that child sex, maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index, 5min APGAR score, neonatal intensive care admission and maternal smoking during pregnancy associated with surface areas. Furthermore, child sex, maternal age and maternal level of education associated with brain volumes. Expectedly, many variables deemed important for neonatal brain anatomy (such as birth weight and gestational age at birth) in earlier studies did not associate with brain metrics in our study group of 5-year-olds, which implies that their effects on brain anatomy are age-specific. Future research may benefit from including pre- and perinatal covariates in the analyses when such data are available. Finally, we provide evidence for right lateralization for surface area and volumes except for the temporal lobes. These subtle differences between hemispheres are variable across individuals and may be interesting brain metrics in future studies.

Association between early-life factors and risk of child-onset Crohnʼs disease among victorian children born 1983–1998: A birth cohort study

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 858-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Louise Ponsonby ◽  
Anthony G. Catto-Smith ◽  
Angela Pezic ◽  
Sandy Dupuis ◽  
Jane Halliday ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Early Life Factors

scholarly journals Prevalence and Correlates of Vitamin D Deficiency among Young South African Infants: A Birth Cohort Study

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1500
Author(s):  
Jabulani R. Ncayiyana ◽  
Leonardo Martinez ◽  
Elizabeth Goddard ◽  
Landon Myer ◽  
Heather J. Zar
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Vitamin D Deficiency ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Vitamin D Supplementation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Young Infants

Early-life vitamin D deficiency is associated with adverse child health outcomes, but the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its correlates in infants remains underexplored, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its correlates among young infants in South Africa. This study included 744 infants, aged 6–10 weeks from the Drakenstein Child Health Study, a population-based birth cohort. Infants were categorized into distinct categories based on serum 25(OH)D concentration level including deficient (<50 nmol/L), insufficient (50–74 nmol/L), and sufficient (≥75 nmol/L). Using multivariable Tobit and logistic regression models, we examined the correlates of serum 25(OH)D3 levels. The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 81% (95% confidence intervals (CI]) 78–83). Multivariable regression analysis showed that serum 25(OH)D3 concentration was independently associated with study site, socioeconomic status, and sex. Birth in winter and breastfeeding were the strongest predictors of lower serum 25(OH)D3 concentration levels. Compared to non-breastfed children, children breastfed were at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency (AOR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.04–3.67) and breastfeeding for more than one month was associated with greater likelihood of vitamin D deficiency (AOR, 5.40; 95% CI, 2.37–12.32) and lower vitamin D concentrations (−16.22 nmol/L; 95% CI, −21.06, −11.39). Vitamin D deficiency in infants is ubiquitous, under-recognised, and strongly associated with season of birth and breastfeeding in this setting. Nutritional interventions with vitamin D supplementation in national health programs in low- and middle-income countries are urgently needed to improve early-life vitamin D status in infants.

Early-life patterns of sugar consumption and dental caries in the permanent teeth: a birth cohort study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto Feldens ◽  
Igor Fonseca dos Santos ◽  
Paulo Floriani Kramer ◽  
Márcia Regina Vítolo ◽  
Vanessa Simas Braga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Dental Caries ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Permanent Teeth ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Sugar Consumption ◽  
Life Patterns

scholarly journals Early life and socio-economic determinants of dietary trajectories in infancy and early childhood – results from the HSHK birth cohort study

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Narendar Manohar ◽  
Andrew Hayen ◽  
Loc Do ◽  
Jane Scott ◽  
Sameer Bhole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Breastfeeding Duration ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Infancy And Early Childhood

Abstract Background Early childhood is a period when dietary behaviours are established. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal intake of core and discretionary foods and identify early life and socio-economic factors influencing those intakes. Methods Mother-infant dyads (n = 934) from the Healthy Smiles Healthy Kids study, an ongoing birth cohort study, were interviewed. The information on ‘weekly frequency of core and discretionary foods intake’ using a food frequency questionnaire was collected at 4 months, 8 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years age points. Group-based trajectory modelling analyses were performed to identify diet trajectories for ‘core’ and ‘discretionary’ foods respectively. A multinomial logistic regression was performed to identify the maternal and child-related predictors of resulting trajectories. Results The intake of core and discretionary foods each showed distinct quadratic (n = 3) trajectories with age. Overall, core foods intake increased rapidly in the first year of life, followed by a decline after age two, whereas discretionary foods intake increased steadily across the five age points. Multiparity (Relative Risk (RR): 0.46, 95%CI: 0.27–0.77), non-English speaking ethnicity of mother (RR: 0.66, 95%CI: 0.47–0.91) and having a single mother (RR: 0.40, 95%CI: 0.18–0.85) were associated with low trajectories of core foods intake whereas older maternal age (RR: 1.05, 95%CI: 1.01–1.08) and longer breastfeeding duration (RR: 1.02, 95%CI: 1.00–1.03) were associated with higher trajectories of core foods intake. Also, multiparity (RR 2.63, 95%CI: 1.47–4.70), low maternal education (RR 3.01, 95%CI: 1.61–5.65), and socio-economic disadvantage (RR 2.69, 95%CI: 1.31–5.55) were associated with high trajectories of discretionary foods intake. Conversely, longer duration of breastfeeding (RR 0.99, 95%CI: 0.97–0.99), and timely introduction of complementary foods (RR 0.30, 95%CI: 0.15–0.61) had a protective effect against high discretionary foods consumption in infancy and early childhood. Conclusion Children’s frequency of discretionary foods intake increases markedly as they transition from infancy to preschool age, and the trajectories of intake established during early childhood are strongly influenced by socio-demographic factors and infant feeding choices. Hence, there is a need for targeted strategies to improve nutrition in early childhood and ultimately prevent the incidence of chronic diseases in children.

scholarly journals The University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences (UZ-CHS) BIRTH COHORT study: rationale, design and methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerina Duri ◽  
◽  
Felicity Z. Gumbo ◽  
Privilege T. Munjoma ◽  
Precious Chandiwana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Amniotic Fluid ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Birth Outcomes ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Adverse Birth Outcomes ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Zimbabwe

Abstract Background Commencing lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately following HIV diagnosis (Option B+), has greatly improved maternal-infant health. Thus, large and increasing numbers of HIV-infected women are on ART during pregnancy, a situation concurrently increasing numbers of HIV-exposed-uninfected (HEU) infants. Compared to their HIV-unexposed-uninfected (HUU) counterparts, HEU infants show higher rates of adverse birth outcomes, mortality, infectious/non-communicable diseases including impaired growth and neurocognitive development. There is an urgent need to understand the impact of HIV and early life ART exposures, immune-metabolic dysregulation, comorbidities and environmental confounders on adverse paediatric outcomes. Methods Six hundred (600) HIV-infected and 600 HIV-uninfected pregnant women ≥20 weeks of gestation will be enrolled from four primary health centres in high density residential areas of Harare. Participants will be followed up as mother-infant-pairs at delivery, week(s) 1, 6, 10, 14, 24, 36, 48, 72 and 96 after birth. Clinical, socio-economic, nutritional and environmental data will be assessed for adverse birth outcomes, impaired growth, immune/neurodevelopment, vertical transmission of HIV, hepatitis-B/C viruses, cytomegalovirus and syphilis. Maternal urine, stool, plasma, cord blood, amniotic fluid, placenta and milk including infant plasma, dried blood spot and stool will be collected at enrolment and follow-up visits. The composite primary endpoint is stillbirth and infant mortality within the first two years of life in HEU versus HUU infants. Maternal mortality in HIV-infected versus -uninfected women is another primary outcome. Secondary endpoints include a range of maternal and infant outcomes. Sub-studies will address maternal stress and malnutrition, maternal-infant latent tuberculosis, Helicobacter pylori infections, immune-metabolomic dysregulation including gut, breast milk and amniotic fluid dysbiosis. Discussion The University of Zimbabwe-College of Health-Sciences-Birth-Cohort study will provide a comprehensive assessment of risk factors and biomarkers for HEU infants’ adverse outcomes. This will ultimately help developing strategies to mitigate effects of maternal HIV, early-life ART exposures and comorbidities on infants’ mortality and morbidity. Trial registration ClinicalTrial.gov Identifier: NCT04087239. Registered 12 September 2019.

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