Macrosomia is associated with high weight-for-height in children aged 1-3 years in Shanghai, China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between macrosomia and high weight-for-length/height in 1-3 years old Chinese infants.

DESIGN: A retrospective longitudinal study.

SUBJECTS: 918 children aged 1-3 years in Shanghai, China.

MEASUREMENTS: Body weight and length/height, illness status and feeding modalities were obtained during follow-up. Macrosomia was defined as birth weight >/=90th percentile of sex specific birth weight distribution. High weight-for-length/height was defined as a weight-for-length/height z-score >/=1.68 using the WHO growth reference.

RESULTS: The odds ratios (ORs) for high weight-for-length/height were 3.60 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.74-7.42) for boys and 1.39 (95% CI, 0.51-3.81) for girls who were macrosomic compared with the nonmacrosomic counterparts after adjustment for age. The ORs were attenuated to 3.48 (95% CI, 1.63-7.43) for boys and were still nonsignificant for girls (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 0.49-3.91) after further controlling for illness status, the age of breast-feeding cessation and the age at introduction of complementary foods. From the analysis of boys and girls combined, the ORs were 2.48 (95% CI, 1.40-4.40) with adjustment for age and sex and 2.33 (95% CI, 1.29-4.22) with all covariates.

CONCLUSION: Macrosomia is an important predictor for high weight-for-length/height in Chinese children aged 1-3 years.