Impact of Adiposity on Physical Activity Levels of Young Infants

Studies suggest that infant adiposity may delay the development of motor skills such as sitting.1-3 However, the role of physical activity (PA) in the development of motor skills during the first year of life has been understudied and little is known about the amount of PA needed for normal growth and development in infants.4,5 PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of adiposity as measured by subscapular skinfold thickness (SFT) on PA of typically developing infants at three months of age (visit 1), onset of sitting (visit 2) (M=5 months, 8 days), and one month post (visit 3) (M=6 months, 3 days). METHODS: Infants’ (n=29) subscapular SFT was measured by a trained researcher and infants wore accelerometers on their left wrist and ankle for four consecutive days at all three time points. RESULTS: While normal SFT infants appeared to move more in visits 1 and 2 compared to high SFT infants, these results were not significant. DISCUSSION: More research is needed to determine if a significant difference develops during the acquisition of additional motor skills