Body shape trajectories are associated with birth weight, body mass index and sociodemographic conditions in participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil): a multiple correspondence analysis

• Published in: BMC public health Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 1 - 1857
• Main Authors: Pimenta, Isiyara Taverna, Griep, Rosane Harter, de Matos, Sheila Maria Alvim, de Fatima Haueisen Sander Diniz, Maria, Moreno, Arlinda B, de Jesus Mendes da Fonseca, Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 25-09-2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Anthropometry; Birth weight; Body mass index; Body shape; Body size; Body weight; Body weight changes; Body weight trajectory; Children; Clustering; Data collection; Demographic aspects; Economic aspects; Education; Exercise; Food habits; Health aspects; Health care disparities; Life span; Longitudinal studies; Low birth weight; Obesity; Public health; Service life assessment; Social aspects; Sociodemographic factors; Socioeconomic factors; Trajectory analysis; Womens health; Brazil
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16779-1

Background Evaluating lifelong weight trajectories is challenging due to the high costs of studies that follow individuals from childhood to adulthood. The use of silhouette scales has been a new approach to assess the body shape trajectory across life as a proxy for body weight trajectory. Depending on body shape trajectories, individuals may be more prone to develop diseases in adulthood. Therefore, identifying factors related to them is essential for public health. This study aimed to evaluate body shape trajectories across the lifespan and to verify associations between them, birth weight, body mass index, and sociodemographic conditions in a Brazilian cohort. Methods This is a cross-sectional analysis conducted with 14,014 participants of first follow-up data collection of Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). ELSA-Brasil is a multicentric prospective cohort study initiated in 2008 with civil servants of six public institutions in the Northeast, South and Southeast regions of Brazil. We applied a clustering method to longitudinal data to identify body shape trajectories from 5 to 40 years of age and assessed the associations between these trajectories and birth weight, body mass index and sociodemographic conditions (race, education, maternal education and monthly per capita family income) using multiple correspondence analysis. Results We found five body shape trajectories for women and three for men. Low birth weight was associated with a slight to moderate increase in shape. High birth weight was associated with maintaining large body size in both sexes and markedly increased body shape in women. Higher sociodemographic status and white race were associated with marked increases in body shape in men and maintenance of medium body shape in women. Conclusions The study shows that variables related to worse lifetime weight status (evaluated by anthropometry), such as presence of obesity, are also associated with worse body shape trajectories, as assessed with silhouette scales. Our results suggest that body shape trajectories are a good indicator of body weight trajectories and may be used when cohort studies are not possible. Keywords: Body shape, Body weight changes, Body weight trajectory, Birth weight, Sociodemographic factors