The developmental origins of health and disease theory posits that early life experiences may be associated with adult chronic disease development, including obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Consequently, there has been interest in the associations between birth weight, body composition and chronic diseases, such as hypertension. At the 64th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Public Health Agency in 2017 it was noted that the Caribbean is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic with statistics showing that at least one in every 5 children carry unhealthy weight and is at risk for developing non-communicable diseases consequently, there has been a resurgence of interest in the associations between birth weight, body composition and chronic diseases, such as hypertension. The Caribbean Public Health Agency in 2017 noted that the Caribbean is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic with statistics showing that at least one in every 5 children carry unhealthy weight and is at risk for developing non-communicable diseases. Human growth during the first two years of life, that is, during infancy is a period
of rapid postnatal growth which is not only accompanied by quantitative changes in body size but also major changes in body composition and it represents the best time for obesity prevention and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their adverse consequences. Therefore, identification of effective early-life intervention targeting these modifiable factors is critical for paediatric, as well as adult obesity prevention and other NCD. However, few studies have examined the relationship between birth weight and body composition in one-year infants. While there are challenges to the birth weight hypothesis as a major contributor to the development of hypertension, in particular the consistently positive relationship of body weight with blood pressure (BP) throughout childhood and adulthood, substantial work has been done in this area of research and overall trends suggest a consistent relationship being that lower birth weight results in higher blood. This study will focus on the association between birth weight and body composition as well as the association of birth weight and blood pressure in one-year infants.