Concordance of the Resting State Networks in Typically Developing, 6-to 7-Year-Old Children and Healthy Adults.

Though fairly well-studied in adults, less is known about the manifestation of resting state networks (RSN) in children. We examined the validity of RSN derived in an ethnically diverse group of typically developing 6- to 7-year-old children. We hypothesized that the RSNs in young children would be robust and would reliably show significant concordance with previously published RSN in adults. Additionally, we hypothesized that a smaller sample size using this robust technique would be comparable in quality to pediatric RSNs found in a larger cohort study. Furthermore, we posited that compared to the adult RSNs, the primary sensorimotor and the default mode networks (DMNs) in this pediatric group would demonstrate the greatest correspondence, while the executive function networks would exhibit a lesser degree of spatial overlap. Resting state functional magnetic resonance images (rs-fMRI) were acquired in 18 children between 6 and 7 years recruited from an ethnically diverse population in the Mid-South region of the United States. Twenty RSNs were derived using group independent component analysis and their spatial correspondence with previously published adult RSNs was examined. We demonstrate that the rs-fMRI in this group can be deconstructed into the fundamental RSN as all the major RSNs previously described in adults and in a large sample that included older children can be observed in our sample of young children. Further, the primary visual, auditory, and somatosensory networks, as well as the default mode, and frontoparietal networks derived in this group exhibited a greater spatial concordance with those seen in adults. The motor, temporoparietal, executive control, dorsal attention, and cerebellar networks in children had less spatial overlap with the corresponding RSNs in adults. Our findings suggest that several salient RSNs can be mapped reliably in small and diverse pediatric cohort within a narrow age range and the evolution of these RSNs can be studied reliably in such groups during early childhood and adolescence.

Urinary Microbiota Associated with Preterm Birth: Results from the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) Study.

Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Genitourinary infection is implicated in the initiation of spontaneous PTB; however, examination of the urinary microbiota in relation to preterm delivery using next-generation sequencing technologies is lacking. In a case-control study nested within the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) study, we examined associations between the urinary microbiota and PTB. A total of 49 cases (delivery < 37 weeks gestation) and 48 controls (delivery ≥ 37 weeks gestation) balanced on health insurance type were included in the present analysis. Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene V4 region was performed on urine samples collected during the second trimester. We observed no difference in taxa richness, evenness, or community composition between cases and controls or for gestational age modeled as a continuous variable. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) classified to Prevotella, Sutterella, L. iners, Blautia, Kocuria, Lachnospiraceae, and S.marcescens were enriched among cases (FDR corrected p≤ 0.05). A urinary microbiota clustering partition dominated by S. marcescens was also associated with PTB (OR = 3.97, 95% CI: 1.19-13.24). These data suggest a limited role for the urinary microbiota in PTB when measured during the second trimester by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The enrichment among cases in several organisms previously reported to be associated with genitourinary pathology requires confirmation in future studies to rule out the potential for false positive findings.

Gestational Vitamin 25(OH)D Status as a Risk Factor for Receptive Language Development: A 24-Month, Longitudinal, Observational Study.

Emerging data suggest that vitamin D status during childhood and adolescence can affect neurocognitive development. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether gestational 25(OH)D status is associated with early childhood cognitive and receptive language development. The Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood Study (CANDLE) study enrolled 1503 mother-child dyads during the second trimester of healthy singleton pregnancies from Shelby County TN. Among 1020 participants of the total CANDLE cohort for whom 25(OH)D levels were available, mean gestational 25(OH)D level during the second trimester was 22.3 ng/mL (range 5.9-68.4), with 41.7% of values <20 ng/dL. Cognitive and language scaled scores increased in a stair-step manner as gestational 25(OH)D levels in the second trimester rose from <20 ng/dL, through 20-29.99 ng/dL, to ≥30 ng/dL. When controlling for socioeconomic status, race, use of tobacco products, gestational age of the child at birth, and age at the 2-year assessment, the gestational 25(OH)D was positively related to receptive language development (p < 0.017), but not cognitive or expressive language.

Association between dietary patterns during pregnancy and birth size measures in a diverse population in Southern US.

Despite increased interest in promoting nutrition during pregnancy, the association between maternal dietary patterns and birth outcomes has been equivocal. We examined maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy as a determinant of offspring's birth weight-for-length (WLZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), length-for-age (LAZ), and head circumference (HCZ) Z-scores in Southern United States (n=1151). Maternal diet during pregnancy was assessed by seven dietary patterns. Multivariable linear regression models described the association of WLZ, WAZ, LAZ, and HCZ with diet patterns controlling for other maternal and child characteristics. In bivariate analyses, WAZ and HCZ were significantly lower for processed and processed-Southern compared to healthy dietary patterns, whereas LAZ was significantly higher for these patterns. In the multivariate models, mothers who consumed a healthy-processed dietary pattern had children with significantly higher HCZ compared to the ones who consumed a healthy dietary pattern (HCZ ß: 0.36; p=0.019). No other dietary pattern was significantly associated with any of the birth outcomes. Instead, the major outcome determinants were: African American race, pre-pregnancy BMI, and gestational weight gain. These findings justify further investigation about socio-environmental and genetic factors related to race and birth outcomes in this population.

Early adversity, socioemotional development, and stress in urban 1-year-old children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine demographic, maternal, and child factors associated with socioemotional (SE) problems and chronic stress in 1-year-old children. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, longitudinal, community-based study, which followed mother-infant dyads (n = 1070; representative of race, education, and income status of Memphis/Shelby County, Tennessee) from midgestation into early childhood. Child SE development was measured using the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment in all 1097 1-year-olds. Chronic stress was assessed by hair cortisol in a subsample of 1-year-olds (n = 297). Multivariate regression models were developed to predict SE problems and hair cortisol levels. RESULTS: More black mothers than white mothers reported SE problems in their 1-year-olds (32.9% vs 10.2%; P < .001). In multivariate regression, SE problems in blacks were predicted by lower maternal education, greater parenting stress and maternal psychological distress, and higher cyclothymic personality score. In whites, predictors of SE problems were Medicaid insurance, higher maternal depression score at 1 year, greater parenting stress and maternal psychological distress, higher dysthymic personality score, and male sex. SE problem scores were associated with higher hair cortisol levels (P = .01). Blacks had higher hair cortisol levels than whites (P < .001). In the entire subsample, increased hair cortisol levels were associated with higher parenting stress (P = .001), lower maternal depression score (P = .01), lower birth length (P < .001), and greater length at 1 year of age (P = .003). CONCLUSION: Differences in maternal education, insurance, mental health, and early stress may disrupt SE development in children. Complex relationships between hair cortisol level in 1-year-olds and maternal parenting stress and depression symptoms suggest dysregulation of the child's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Dietary patterns in pregnancy and effects on nutrient intake in the Mid-South: the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) study.

Dietary patterns are sensitive to differences across socio-economic strata or cultural habits and may impact programing of diseases in later life. The purpose of this study was to identify distinct dietary patterns during pregnancy in the Mid-South using factor analysis. Furthermore, we aimed to analyze the differences in the food groups and in macro- and micronutrients among the different food patterns. The study was a cross-sectional analysis of 1155 pregnant women (mean age 26.5 ± 5.4 years; 62% African American, 35% Caucasian, 3% Other; and pre-pregnancy BMI 27.6 ± 7.5 kg/m(2)). Using food frequency questionnaire data collected from participants in the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) study between 16 and 28 weeks of gestation, dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis. Three major dietary patterns, namely, Healthy, Processed, and US Southern were identified among pregnant women from the Mid-South. Further analysis of the three main patterns revealed four mixed dietary patterns, i.e., Healthy-Processed, Healthy-US Southern, Processed-US Southern, and overall Mixed. These dietary patterns were different (p < 0.001) from each other in almost all the food items, macro- and micro nutrients and aligned across socioeconomic and racial groups. Our study describes unique dietary patterns in the Mid-South, consumed by a cohort of women enrolled in a prospective study examining the association of maternal nutritional factors during pregnancy that are known to affect brain and cognitive development by age 3.

BMI and an anthropometry-based estimate of fat mass percentage are both valid discriminators of cardiometabolic risk: a comparison with DXA and bioimpedance.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether categories of obesity based on BMI and an anthropometry-based estimate of fat mass percentage (FM% equation) have similar discriminative ability for markers of cardiometabolic risk as measurements of FM% by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) or bioimpedance analysis (BIA). DESIGN AND METHODS: A study of 40-79-year-old male (n = 205) and female (n = 388) Finns. Weight, height, blood pressure, triacylglycerols, HDL cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose were measured. Body composition was assessed by DXA and BIA and a FM%-equation. RESULTS: For grade 1 hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and impaired fasting glucose >6.1 mmol/L, the categories of obesity as defined by BMI and the FM% equation had 1.9% to 3.7% (P < 0.01) higher discriminative power compared to DXA. For grade 2 hypertension the FM% equation discriminated 1.2% (P = 0.05) lower than DXA and 2.8% (P < 0.01) lower than BIA. Receiver operation characteristics confirmed BIA as best predictor of grade 2 hypertension and the FM% equation as best predictor of grade 1 hypertension. All other differences in area under curve were small (≤0.04) and 95% confidence intervals included 0. CONCLUSIONS: Both BMI and FM% equations may predict cardiometabolic risk with similar discriminative ability as FM% measured by DXA or BIA.

Women with and without metabolic disorder differ in their gut microbiota composition.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether overweight/obese women in metabolic disorder group (MDG, n = 27) differ in their gut microbiota composition from overweight/obese women in non-metabolic disorder group (NMDG, n = 47) and normal weight women group (NWG, n = 11). Gut microbiota was profiled from fecal samples by 16S rRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization and flow cytometry in 85 premenopausal women. Body composition was measured by bioimpedance, and dietary intakes were collected via food diaries. Standard procedures were used to assess plasma glucose, serum insulin, lipids, and inflammatory status. We found that the proportion of bacteria belonging to Eubacterium rectale-Clostridium coccoides group, indicating efficient energy harvest from nutrients in gut, was higher in MDG compared to NMDG and NWG, while no difference was found between NMDG and NWG. The proportion of Eubacterium rectale-Clostridium coccoides group correlated positively with weight, BMI, total fat, fat mass percentage (FM%), visceral fat area, and serum triglycerides, and negatively with high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Our results indicate that certain members of Eubacterium rectale-Clostridium coccoides group are associated with obesity-related MDs not obesity per se.

Prolonged breast-feeding protects mothers from later-life obesity and related cardio-metabolic disorders.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the long-term effects of duration of postpartum lactation on maternal body composition and risk for cardio-metabolic disorders in later life. DESIGN: Retrospective study. Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and serum glucose, insulin and lipids were analysed using enzymatic photometric methods 16-20 years after the last pregnancy. Medical history and lifestyle factors were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. Detailed information regarding weight change patterns during each pregnancy was obtained from personal maternity tracking records. SETTING: City of Jyväskylä and surroundings in Central Finland. SUBJECTS: Two hundred and twelve women (mean age 48, range 36-60 years). RESULTS: At 16-20 years after their last pregnancy, women who had breast-fed for less than 6 months had higher total body fat mass and fat mass percentage, particularly in the android region (46·5 (sd 8·2) %) than mothers who had breast-fed for longer than 6 months (39·0 (sd 10·2) %) or for longer than 10 months (38·4 (sd 10·9) %, P < 0·01). These differences were independent of pre-pregnancy weight and BMI, menopausal status, smoking status, level of education, participation in past and present leisure-time physical activity, and current dietary energy intake. Higher body fat mass was also associated with higher fasting serum glucose concentration and insulin resistance, TAG, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol concentrations, as well as higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P < 0·05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Short duration of breast-feeding may induce weight retention and fat mass accumulation, resulting in increased risk of cardio-metabolic disorders in later life.

Is bone loss the reversal of bone accrual? Evidence from a cross-sectional study in daughter-mother-grandmother trios.

Bone adapts to mechanical loads applied on it. During aging, loads decrease to a greater extent at those skeletal sites where loads increase most in earlier life. Thus, the loss of bone may occur preferentially at sites where most bone has been deposited previously; ie, bone loss could be the directional reversal of accrual. To test this hypothesis, we compared the bone mass distribution at weight-bearing (tibia) and non-weight-bearing (radius) bones among 18-year-old girls, their premenopausal mothers, and their postmenopausal maternal grandmothers. Bone and muscle properties were measured by pQCT, and polar distribution of bone mass was obtained in 55 girl-mother-maternal grandmother trios. Site-matched differences in bone mass were compared among three generations. The differences between girls and mothers and between mothers and grandmothers were used to represent the patterns of bone mass accrual from early adulthood to middle age and bone loss from middle to old age, respectively. Compared to the mothers, 18-year old girls had less bone mass in the anterior and medial-posterior regions of the tibial shaft, while the grandmothers had less bone in the anterior and posterior regions. In contrast, the bone mass differences in the radial shaft between girls and mothers and mothers and grandmothers were relatively uniform. We conclude that both bone accrual and loss are direction-specific in weight-bearing bones but relatively uniform in non-weight-bearing bones. Bone loss in old age is largely, but not completely, a reversal of the preferential deposition of bone in the most highly loaded regions during early life.

Concerted actions of insulin-like growth factor 1, testosterone, and estradiol on peripubertal bone growth: a 7-year longitudinal study.

A better understanding of how bone growth is regulated during peripuberty is important for optimizing the attainment of peak bone mass and for the prevention of osteoporosis in later life. In this report we used hierarchical models to evaluate the associations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), estradiol (E(2) ), and testosterone (T) with peripubertal bone growth in a 7-year longitudinal study. Two-hundred and fifty-eight healthy girls were assessed at baseline (mean age 11.2 years) and at 1, 2, 3.5, and 7 years. Serum concentrations of IGF-1, E(2) , and T were determined. Musculoskeletal properties in the left lower leg were measured using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Serum levels of IGF-1, E(2) , and T increased dramatically before menarche, whereas they decreased, plateaued, or increased at a lower rate, respectively, after menarche. IGF-1 level was positively associated with periosteal circumference (PC) and total bone mineral content (tBMC) throughout peripuberty but not after adjustment for muscle cross-sectional area (mCSA). On the other hand, IGF-1 was associated with tibial length (TL) independently of mCSA before menarche. T was positively associated with TL, PC, tBMC, and cortical volumetric bone mineral density, independent of mCSA, before menarche but not after. E(2) was associated with TL positively before menarche but negatively after menarche. These findings suggest that during puberty, circulating IGF-1 promotes bone periosteal apposition and mass accrual indirectly, probably through stimulating muscle growth, whereas the effects of sex steroids on bone growth differ before and after menarche, presenting a biphasic pattern. Hence the concerted actions of these hormones are essential for optimal bone development in peripuberty.

Effect of long-term leisure time physical activity on lean mass and fat mass in girls during adolescence.

The purpose of this 7-yr prospective longitudinal study was to examine if the level and consistency of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) during adolescence affected the quantity and distribution of lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) at early adulthood. The study subjects were 202 Finnish girls who were 10-13 yr old at baseline. LM and FM of the total body (TB), arms, legs, and trunk were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle cross-sectional area (mCSA) of the left leg was assessed by peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Scores of LTPA were obtained by questionnaire. Girls were divided into four groups comprising those with consistently low (G(LL)) or consistently high (G(HH)) physical activity, or those whose physical activity changed from low to high (G(LH)), or from high to low (G(HL)), over the 7 yr of follow-up. At baseline, no differences were found in LM, FM, and FM% among the groups in any of the body segments. By the end of the study G(HH) and G(LH) had higher values of LM of the TB, arms, legs, and trunk than that of the G(HL) and G(LL) groups (P < 0.05, respectively). High FM% of the TB was associated with low level of LTPA, but no significant differences were found in the absolute amount of FM and mCSA among the LTPA groups. Our results suggest that a consistently high level of LTPA during the transition from prepuberty to early adulthood has a positive effect on lean mass gain in girls. Participating in 5 h of LTPA per week had a significant effect on FM% but not on the absolute amount of fat mass.

Bone and body segment lengthening and widening: a 7-year follow-up study in pubertal girls.

During growth bone increases in length and width as does the body size. The aim of this paper was to examine the growth pattern of body height and weight, and the width and length of various body segments, and to establish the timing of peak growth velocity (PV) in relation to time of menarche in a cohort of Finnish girls followed from age 10 until 18. The study was a 7-year longitudinal cohort study. Widths and lengths of body segments and bones were measured from DXA scan images using bone landmarks in 396 girls aged 10 to 13 years at baseline, and in 255 mothers and 159 grandmothers. The girls' growth velocities (rate of change with time) peaked at 13.5 months prior to menarche for height, 14.4 months for weight, and 15.4 months for BMI. Shoulder width peaked at 18.2 months, lesser pelvis width at 13.5 months and greater pelvis width at 11.6 months prior to menarche. The PV of various body segment lengths showed that the femur peaked earliest at 20.7 months prior to menarche, followed by the humerus (at 18.0 months), radius (at 17.4 months), tibia (at 17.5 months), and trunk (at 11.8 months), respectively. All the long bones were linearly correlated with height while the flat and irregular bones had a nonlinear growth relationship with height (r(2)=0.73-0.88). By the age of 18 years the girls had reached their mothers' height (101%) and humerus, radius, femur and tibia lengths (100-101%), but not their mothers' shoulder, great pelvis and lesser pelvis widths (98%, 95% and 93%, respectively). Our data confirmed that, after bone elongation had ceased, segment width continued to increase, although at a slower speed, into early adulthood. The wide variations in growth velocity of these anthropomorphic measurements underscore the need to optimize nutrition and physical activity from early puberty onward in order to maximize bone development.

Long-term leisure-time physical activity has a positive effect on bone mass gain in girls.

The purpose of this 7-year prospective longitudinal study was to examine whether the level and consistency of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) during adolescence affected the bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) attained at early adulthood. The study subjects were 202 Finnish girls who were 10 to 13 years of age at baseline. Bone area (BA), BMC, and BMD of the total body (TB), total femur (TF), and lumbar spine (L(2)-L(4)) were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Scores of LTPA were obtained by questionnaire. Girls were divided into four groups: consistently low physical activity (G(LL)), consistently high (G(HH)), and changed from low to high (G(LH)) and from high to low (G(HL)) during 7 years of follow-up. At baseline, no differences were found in BA, BMC, and BMD among the groups in any of the bone sites. Compared with the G(LL) group, the G(HH) group had higher BMC (11.7% in the TF, p < .05) and BMD at the TB (4.5%) and the TF (12.2%, all p < .05) at age 18. Those in the G(LH) group also had higher a BMC at each site (8.5% to 9.4%, p < .05) and a higher BMD in the TB (5.4%) and the TF (8.9%) than that of G(LL) (all p < 0.05) at the age 18. Our results suggest that long-term leisure-time physical activity has a positive effect on bone mass gain of multiple bone sites in girls during the transition from prepuberty to early adulthood. In addition, girls whose physical activity increases during adolescence also benefit from bone mass gain.

Trait-specific tracking and determinants of body composition: a 7-year follow-up study of pubertal growth in girls.

BACKGROUND: Understanding how bone (BM), lean (LM) and fat mass (FM) develop through childhood, puberty and adolescence is vital since it holds key information regarding current and future health. Our study aimed to determine how BM, LM and FM track from prepuberty to early adulthood in girls and what factors are associated with intra- and inter-individual variation in these three tissues. METHODS: The study was a 7-year longitudinal cohort study. BM, LM and FM measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, self-reported dietary information, leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and other factors were assessed one to eight times in 396 girls aged 10 to 13 years (baseline), and in 255 mothers once. RESULTS: The location of a girl's BM, LM and FM in the lower, middle or upper part of the sample distribution was established before puberty and tracked in its percentile of origin over 7 years (r = 0.72 for BM, r = 0.61 for LM, and r = 0.65 for FM all p < 0.001 first vs. last measurements' ranking). Seventy-three percent of those in the lowest quartile for BM and 69% for LM, and 79% of those in the highest quartile for FM at baseline remained in their quartile at 7-year follow-up. Heritability was estimated to contribute 69% of the total variance of the BM, 50% of the LM, and 57% of the FM. Besides body size, diet index (explaining 9% of variance), breast feeding duration (6%) and mother's BM (9%) predicted high BM. Diet index and high LTPA predicted high LM (24% and 14%, respectively), and low FM (25% and 12%, respectively), and low level of parental education predicted high FM (4%). CONCLUSION: Individual levels of BM, LM and FM are established before puberty and track in a trait-specific manner until early adulthood. Girls who are prone to develop low BM and LM and high FM in adulthood can be identified in prepuberty. The developments of three components of body composition are inter-related during growth. BM was the most heritable trait while LM the most environmentally modifiable. Diet and physical activity played an important role in increasing LM and preventing the accumulation of excessive FM.

Body mass and body fat in Hungarian schoolboys: differences between 1980-2005.

The prevalence of juvenile excess weight keeps growing in the more developed world (WHO, 1998). The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Hungarian schoolboys in 1980 and 2005.Two independent representative data collections were performed in volunteer boys aged between 6.51 and 18.50 years in the same 90 settlements of the country in 1980 (n=13,061) and 2005 (n=13,060). Height, body mass, and five skinfolds were measured by the same investigators in both instances. Overweight and obesity were estimated by using BMI (Cole et al., 2000), respectively skinfold thicknesses (Parízková, 1961).The pair-wise differences between height means were consistently significant in the 12 age groups studied. Body mass differences were not exactly proportionate with height. The boys of 2005 had significantly more relative body fat than those of 1980. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was remarkably higher in 2005.Taller height and a part of the heavier body mass in 2005 was attributed to a positive secular growth trend. The increases in BMI and fat content are negative consequences of a markedly changed lifestyle associated with inactivity and dietary habits. Because of its public health importance the trends of childhood obesity should be closely monitored.

Assessing body composition with DXA and bioimpedance: effects of obesity, physical activity, and age.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated to what extent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and two types of bioimpedance analysis (BIA) yield similar results for body fat mass (FM) in men and women with different levels of obesity and physical activity (PA). METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The study population consisted of 37-81-year-old Finnish people (82 men and 86 women). FM% was estimated using DXA (GE Lunar Prodigy) and two BIA devices (InBody (720) and Tanita BC 418 MA). Subjects were divided into normal, overweight, and obese groups on the basis of clinical cutoff points of BMI, and into low PA (LPA) and high PA (HPA) groups. Agreement between the devices was calculated by using the Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: Compared to DXA, both BIA devices provided on average 2-6% lower values for FM% in normal BMI men, in women in all BMI categories, and in both genders in both HPA and LPA groups. In obese men, the differences were smaller. The two BIA devices provided similar means for groups. Differences between the two BIA devices with increasing FM% were a result of the InBody (720) not including age in their algorithm for estimating body composition. DISCUSSION: BIA methods provided systematically lower values for FM than DXA. However, the differences depend on gender and body weight status pointing out the importance of considering these when identifying people with excess FM.