TOPLINE:

Cord blood appetite-regulating hormones, such as peptide tyrosine tyrosine, pancreatic polypeptide, and leptin, played a crucial role in early-life growth trajectories and childhood anthropometric measurements and may have therefore influenced the early-life development of overweight and obesity.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a prospective study to evaluate associations between cord blood appetite hormone levels and early-life growth trajectories and childhood adiposity.
• They included 325 children (median age, 4.49 years; 53.5% girls) from a population-based cohort in Belgium who were recruited between January 2010 and December 2016.
• GLP-1, peptide tyrosine tyrosine, pancreatic polypeptide, and leptin levels were measured in cord blood plasma.
• Growth patterns were assessed at 4-6 years of age with three indicators: rapid growth, adiposity peak, and BMI growth trajectories.

TAKEAWAY:

• In the basic model, cord blood pancreatic polypeptide levels were positively associated with waist-to-height ratio (standardised regression coefficient [β], 0.16; P = .008).
• In the fully adjusted model, cord blood peptide tyrosine tyrosine levels were positively associated with a BMI z score (β, 0.16; P = .01) and the adiposity peak (β, 0.14; P = .03).
• Peptide tyrosine tyrosine and pancreatic polypeptide levels were positively associated with rapid growth and negatively associated with slow growth, whereas leptin levels showed the opposite pattern.

IN PRACTICE:

"The associations observed between cord blood appetite hormones and early growth and adiposity measures suggest that hormonal environments in utero may predispose individuals to certain growth patterns, ultimately influencing their risk for obesity and related conditions in adulthood," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Thaïs De Ruyter, PhD, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. It was published online on November 06, 2025, in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

Data on maternal characteristics, such as appetite hormone levels and diet during pregnancy, and paternal BMI were unavailable. The low prevalence of overweight and obesity might have underestimated the strength of associations.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received support through a grant from the Research Foundation-Flanders. One author reported serving as the director of the spin out company of Melico Sciences outside the submitted work and leading Imperial College London's collaboration with Nestlé and Heptares, and another author reported holding a postdoctoral grant from the Flemish Scientific Fund.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.