Adriëtte Oostvogels

7 Postnatal growth Growth data were obtained from the YHC of the Public Health Service in Amsterdam. Following a standard procedure, trained nurses measured weight and height between birth and age 4 years (length was first measured 1 month after birth). The measurements were standardized using internal sex-specific z-scores to allow comparisons across ages. 19 For this study we used standard deviation scores (SDS) for weight and weight-for-length between age 1 month (range: 2-6 weeks) and 3 months (range: 8-16 weeks). If multiple measurements were available during these periods, the mean was calculated. Accelerated growth was defined as a gain of ≥0.67 SDS. 20 Outcome measurements The outcome variables measured at age 5-6 years were: waist-height-ratio (WHtR), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), fasting plasma glucose, fasting high- density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and fasting triglycerides (TG). Waist circumference was measured midway between the costal border and the iliac crest to the nearest millimetre using a Seca measuring tape. Height was measured to the nearest millimetre Figure 1. Flowchart of the study population 179 pBMI, postnatal growth and offspring’s CMP