G236 CAN WE IDENTIFY CHILDREN AT RISK OF OBESITY BEFORE THEIR FIRST BIRTHDAY?

P. Bundred¹, D. Kitchiner², I. Buchan³. ¹Department of Primary Care, University of Liverpool; ²Department of Cardiology, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital; ³Department of Epidemiology, Manchester University

Introduction: As the obesity epidemic increases the early identification of at risk children will become important so that they can be included in weight reduction programmes as these are developed.

Aims: To examine routinely collected data on height and weight in order to develop simple low cost screening programmes for children at risk of overweight and obesity.

Methods: Sequential height and weight measurements taken at child health clinics were used to examine the weight trajectory in 5245 Wirral preschool children from the 1997, 1998, and 1999 birth cohorts. Data were collected at 6 weeks, 9 months, and 3 years. Overweight (BMI>85th centile) and obesity (BMI>95th centile) were used as the end point of the study. Ethical approval was obtained from the Wirral ethics committee.

Results: Children who showed a rapid increase in weight between 6 weeks and 9 months (SDS …