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BACKGROUND: The increasing incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in western countries has led to the hypothesis that obesity-related inflammation could play a role in the etiology of IBD. However, this hypothesis lacks confirmation in studies of individuals prior to the typical onset of IBD in young adulthood.METHODS: In a cohort of 316,799 individuals from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register (CSHRR), we examined whether BMI at ages 7 through 13 years was associated with later IBD. Linking the CSHRR to the Danish National Patient Register, we identified cases of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) diagnosed during follow-up. Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals.RESULTS: During 10 million person-years of follow-up, 1500 individuals were diagnosed with CD and 2732 with UC. At all examined ages, a 1 unit increase in BMI z-score was associated with a significantly decreased risk of UC (HRs = 0.9) and with a significantly increased risk of CD when diagnosed before age 30 (HRs = 1.2). We observed no associations between changes in BMI z-score between 7 and 13 years and later risk of CD or UC.CONCLUSION: We found a direct association between childhood BMI and CD diagnosed before 30 years of age, and an inverse association between childhood BMI and UC irrespective of age. Our results support the previous hypotheses of obesity being a risk factor for CD, and suggest that childhood underweight might be a risk factor for UC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growth in childhood is associated with later development of autoimmune diseases and cancer, but the impact of growth on risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unknown. We conducted a population-based cohort study to examine whether birth weight, childhood height, or changes in height associated with later risk of IBD. Methods: Our cohort consisted of 317,030 children from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register (born 1930–1989) with height repeatedly measured from age 7 to 13 and with data on birth weight on a subset. Through linkage to the Danish National Patients Register, cases of IBD were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine associations between measures of childhood growth and risk of IBD. Results: During more than 9 million years of follow-up, 1612 individuals were diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD) and 2,640 with ulcerative colitis (UC). Birth weight and childhood heights were not associated with subsequent risk of CD or UC (HRs close to 1.00). Childhood growth from 7 to 10 years (CD: HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.85–1.18; UC: HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.81–1.05) and 10 to 13 years (CD: HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.89–1.17; UC: HR, 0.95; 0.85–1.05) did not associate with risk of IBD either. Conclusion: In this large population-based cohort study, birth weight and childhood growth did not influence risk of IBD, which contrasts with observations in other chronic diseases. Thereby, the study also suggests that pre-clinical effects of adult IBD are not measurable in childhood and that childhood risk factors for IBD do not influence growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies investigating the association between antibiotic exposure in infancy and risk of childhood overweight and obesity. Thirteen studies, including a total of 527 504 children, were included in the systematic review and 8 were included in meta‐analyses. Exposure to antibiotics in infancy was associated with an increased odds ratio (OR) of childhood overweight and obesity (OR 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02‐1.20). Whereas exposure to 1 treatment only and exposure between 6 and 24 months were not associated with increased risk of childhood overweight and obesity, exposure to >1 treatment was associated with an OR of 1.24 (95% CI 1.09‐1.43) and exposure within the first 6 months of life was associated with an OR of 1.20 (95% CI 1.04‐1.37). In conclusion, antibiotic exposure in infancy was associated with a slightly increased risk of childhood overweight and obesity, mainly if children were exposed to repeated treatments or treatment within the first 6 months of life. It is unclear whether this association is mediated via direct effects of antibiotics on the gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]