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High childhood BMI may weaken sympathetic nervous system later
Heightened BMI during early childhood could lead to decreased sympathetic nervous system responses later in life, according to research published in Childhood Obesity.
Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity did not predict BMI, however, in a cohort study of 112 low-income Latino children, from a larger trial of mothers recruited in early pregnancy.
Abbey Alkon, PhD, of the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues measured maternal prenatal weight, children’s height and weight at age 2, 3.5 and 5 years, children’s behaviors — including time spent watching television and playing outdoors and fast food consumption — and children’s ANS reactivity at 3.5 and 5 years.
Sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system activity were observed during rest and four challenges. The researchers calculated ANS reactivity based on differences between average responses to challenge and rest.
Structural equation models were used to analyze relationships between children’s BMI and ANS reactivity; adjustments were made for mother’s BMI, children’s behaviors and height changes.
No associations were observed cross-sectionally between BMI and ANS. Children who had either high BMI at 2 or 3.5 years or large BMI increases between 2 and 3.5 years showed decreased sympathetic activity at 5 years. Neither sympathetic nor parasympathetic reactivity at 3.5 years were predictive of BMI at 5 years.
“The findings provide valuable insight into early weight gain and its effect on the responsivity of the ANS in a Latino population at high risk for obesity-related diseases,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: This study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.