Background: Poor motor skill competence may influence energy balance with childhood overweight as a result. Our aim was to investigate whether the age of motor milestone achievement has changed over the past decades and whether this change may contribute to the increasing trend observed in childhood overweight. Methods: Motor skill competence was assessed in children from the Young Netherlands Twin Register born between 1987 and 2007. Follow-up ranged from 4 up to 10 years. Weight and height were assessed at birth, 6 months, 14 months, and 2, 4, 7, and 10 years. Results: Babies born in later cohorts achieved their motor milestones ‘crawling’, ‘standing’, and ‘walkingunassisted’ later compared to babies born in earlier cohorts (N = 18,514, p <0.001). The prevalence of overweight at age 10 was higher in later cohorts (p = 0.033). The increase in overweight at age 10 was not explained by achieving motor milestones at a later age and this persisted after adjusting for gestational age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Comparing children born in 1987 to those born in 2007, we conclude that children nowadays achieve their motor milestones at a later age. This does not however, explain the increasing trend in childhood overweight.
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Background: The aim of this study is to investigate whether age of infant motor milestone achievement is related to levels of physical activity (PA), weight status and blood pressure at age 4–7years of age. Methods: In the Dutch GECKO (Groningen Expert Center of Kids with Obesity) Drenthe cohort, the age of achieving the motor milestone ‘walking without support’ was reported by parents. Weight status and blood pressure were assessed by trained health nurses and PA was measured using the Actigraph GT3X between age 4 and 7years. Results: Adjusted for children’s age, sex and the mother’s education level, infants who achieved walking without support at a later age, spent more time in sedentary behaviour during childhood and less time in moderate-tovigorous PA. Later motor milestones achievement was not related to higher BMI Z-score, waist circumference Zscore, diastolic or systolic blood pressure. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that a later age of achieving motor milestone within the normal range have a weak relation to lower PA levels at later age. It is not likely that this will have consequences for weight status or blood pressure at 4–7years of age.
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