ESPE Abstracts

Background and Objectives: Childhood obesity is a global public health threat, with an alarming rise in incidence. Obesity at young age has short-term consequences, as well as long-term morbidity. It is, therefore, important to determine body composition longitudinal throughout infancy and childhood to prevent excess adiposity. Multiple methods are used to determine body composition in infants and young children, but none are described as suitable for longitud...

Background and aims: Insight into which determinants associate with bone mineral density (BMD) is needed for targeted therapy in children with a low BMD for chronological age but also for preventive treatment on population level. Currently, studies investigating determinants of BMD in children aged <4 years are scarce. The primary aim of our study was to assess which determinants associate with BMD total body less head (BMDTBLH) at around age 6 m...

Background and aims: Breastfeeding is associated with different adiposity development in infants and a reduced overweight risk. Human milk contains large lipid globules with a native membrane rich in phospholipids, whereas lipid droplets in most conventional infant formulas (IF) are small and protein-coated. Our study aims to evaluate the impact of a Concept IF with large, milk phospholipid-coated lipid droplets, closer to human milk lipid globule characterist...

Background: Excessive gain in fat mass (FM) during the first months of life, known as the critical window for adiposity programming, is associated with an increased risk for adiposity and cardiovascular diseases in later life. Early life nutrition (breastfeeding or formula feeding) might influence body composition (FM and fat free mass (FFM)) development in early life.Aims: To investigate differences in sex-specific long...

Changes in abdominal fat distribution in the first months of life might be critical for adult metabolic health. Type of feeding might influence the abdominal fat distribution in early life. This study aims to determine whether type of feeding is related to abdominal fat distribution and whether changes in early life are associated with abdominal fat distribution at the age of 2 years.Methods: In the Sophia Pluto Cohort, infants are examined at age 1 and ...

Background and aims: Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are non-degradable, man-made-chemicals. PFAS are considered to be ‘Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals’ (EDCs), a group of chemicals which have been reported to interfere with endocrine processes and cause adverse effects on perinatal, neurodevelopmental, metabolic and reproductive outcomes. Especially when exposure occurs during susceptible periods of human development, such as early life....

Background and Objectives: Early life might be a critical window for adiposity programming later in life. Metabolic profile in early life may reflect this programming and correlate with later life adiposity. We investigated if metabolic profile at 3 months of age is predictive for body composition at age 2 years and if there are differences between boys and girls and between infant feeding types.Methods: In 318 healthy t...

Background and Aims: Extreme preterm birth (EPB), <30 weeks gestation, significantly impacts skeletal development due to decreased bone mineralization, with approximately 16-40% of EPBs developing metabolic bone disease of prematurity (MBDP). To investigate if MBDP persists into childhood with the current feeding protocols for EPBs, our objective was to compare bone mineral density (BMD) around (corrected) age 5 years in EPB children versus children born te...