Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:03:42.330Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Relationship between early growth and CVD risk factors in adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2016

M. G. Musa*
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
J. Kagura
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
P. T. Pisa
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
S. A. Norris
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
*
*Address for correspondence: M. G. Musa, Department of Paediatrics, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, Gauteng 2193, South Africa. (Email moji.musa@gmail.com)

Abstract

Low birth weight and a rapid weight gain in early childhood may lead to an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease later in life, such as hypertension and dyslipidaemia. In this study, we examined the associations between size at birth, relative weight gain in infancy and childhood with specific cardiovascular disease risk factors in early adulthood. Adolescents (n=1935) from the Birth to Twenty plus (BT20+) cohort were included in the analysis. The following were treated as exposure variables: weight at birth, and relative conditional weight gain (CW), independent of height, between ages 0–24 months and 24–48 months. Outcomes were serum lipids and body composition variables at age 18 years. After adjusting for sex and other confounders, early life exposures were not associated with adolescent lipid profile. Following adjustment for sex and height (body size), birth weight [β=0.704 (0.40, 1.01)], CW 0–24 [β=1.918 (1.56, 2.28)] and CW24–48 [β=1.485 (1.14, 1.82)] accounted for 48% of the variance in fat mass. However, birth weight [β=0.773 (0.54, 1.01)], CW 0–24 [β=1.523 (1.24, 1.80)] and CW24–48 [β=1.226 (0.97, 1.49)] were also positively predicted and accounted for 71% of the variance in fat mass in adolescence (P<0.05). Our data suggests that birth weight and weight gain during infancy and early childhood independent of linear growth are related to adolescent body composition but not blood lipid profiles in an urban African population.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Eriksson, J, Forsen, T, Tuomilehto, J, Osmond, C, Barker, D. Size at birth, childhood growth and obesity in adult life. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001; 25, 735740.Google Scholar
2. Oren, A, Vos, LE, Uiterwaal, CS, Gorissen, WH, Grobbee, DE, Bots, ML. Birth weight and carotid intima-media thickness: new perspectives from the atherosclerosis risk in young adults (ARYA) study. Ann Epidemiol. 2004; 14, 816.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Ong, KK. Size at birth, postnatal growth and risk of obesity. Horm Res. 2006; 65(Suppl. 3), 6569.Google ScholarPubMed
4. Sacco, MR, de Castro, NP, Euclydes, VL, Souza, JM, Rondo, PH. Birth weight, rapid weight gain in infancy and markers of overweight and obesity in childhood. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013; 67, 11471153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Osmond, C, Barker, DJ, Winter, PD, Fall, CH, Simmonds, SJ. Early growth and death from cardiovascular disease in women. BMJ. 1993; 307, 15191524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Fall, CH, Osmond, C, Barker, DJ, et al. Fetal and infant growth and cardiovascular risk factors in women. BMJ. 1995; 310, 428432.Google Scholar
7. Barker, DJ, Martyn, CN, Osmond, C, Wield, GA. Abnormal liver growth in utero and death from coronary heart disease. BMJ. 1995; 310, 703704.Google Scholar
8. Barker, DJ, Martyn, CN, Osmond, C, Hales, CN, Fall, CH. Growth in utero and serum cholesterol concentrations in adult life. BMJ. 1993; 307, 15241527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Miura, K, Nakagawa, H, Tabata, M, Morikawa, Y, Nishijo, M, Kagamimori, S. Birth weight, childhood growth, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in Japanese aged 20 years. Am J Epidemiol. 2001; 153, 783789.Google Scholar
10. Skidmore, PM, Cassidy, A, Swaminathan, R, Falchi, M, Spector, TD, MacGregor, AJ. Intrauterine, environmental, and genetic influences in the relationship between birth weight and lipids in a female twin cohort. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2006; 26, 23732379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Skidmore, PM, Cassidy, A, Swaminathan, R, Richards, JB, Spector, TD, MacGregor, AJ. Relation of birth weight, body mass index, and change in size from birth to adulthood to insulin resistance in a female twin cohort. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008; 93, 516520.Google Scholar
12. Fagerberg, B, Bondjers, L, Nilsson, P. Low birth weight in combination with catch-up growth predicts the occurrence of the metabolic syndrome in men at late middle age: the atherosclerosis and insulin resistance study. J Intern Med. 2004; 256, 254259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Amigo, H, Bustos, P, Alvarado, ME, et al. Size at birth and lipoprotein concentrations in adulthood: two prospective studies in Latin American cities. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010; 64, 855859.Google Scholar
14. Gomes, FM, Subramanian, SV, Escobar, AM, et al. No association between low birth weight and cardiovascular risk factors in early adulthood: evidence from Sao Paulo, Brazil. PLoS One. 2013; 8, e66554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Nair, MK, Nair, L, Chacko, DS, Zulfikar, AM, George, B, Sarma, PS. Markers of fetal onset adult diseases: a comparison among low birthweight and normal birthweight adolescents. Indian Pediatr. 2009; 46(Suppl.: s), 4347.Google Scholar
16. Fox, CS, Massaro, JM, Hoffmann, U, et al. Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue compartments: association with metabolic risk factors in the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 2007; 116, 3948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Wiklund, P, Toss, F, Weinehall, L, et al. Abdominal and gynoid fat mass are associated with cardiovascular risk factors in men and women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008; 93, 43604366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18. Kahn, K. Population health in South Africa: dynamics over the past two decades. J Public Health Policy. 2011; 32(Suppl. 1), S30S36.Google Scholar
19. Hediger, ML, Overpeck, MD, Kuczmarski, RJ, McGlynn, A, Maurer, KR, Davis, WW. Muscularity and fatness of infants and young children born small- or large-for-gestational-age. Pediatrics. 1998; 102, E60.Google Scholar
20. Kensara, OA, Wootton, SA, Phillips, DI, et al. Fetal programming of body composition: relation between birth weight and body composition measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and anthropometric methods in older Englishmen. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005; 82, 980987.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Sachdev, HS, Fall, CH, Osmond, C, et al. Anthropometric indicators of body composition in young adults: relation to size at birth and serial measurements of body mass index in childhood in the New Delhi birth cohort. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005; 82, 456466.Google Scholar
22. Wells, JC, Chomtho, S, Fewtrell, MS. Programming of body composition by early growth and nutrition. Proc Nutr Soc. 2007; 66, 423434.Google Scholar
23. Leunissen, RW, Kerkhof, GF, Stijnen, T, Hokken-Koelega, A. Timing and tempo of first-year rapid growth in relation to cardiovascular and metabolic risk profile in early adulthood. JAMA. 2009; 301, 22342242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24. Ekelund, U, Ong, KK, Linne, Y, et al. Association of weight gain in infancy and early childhood with metabolic risk in young adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007; 92, 98103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Fabricius-Bjerre, S, Jensen, RB, Faerch, K, et al. Impact of birth weight and early infant weight gain on insulin resistance and associated cardiovascular risk factors in adolescence. PLoS One. 2011; 6, e20595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26. Vorster, HH, Kruger, A, Margetts, BM. The nutrition transition in Africa: can it be steered into a more positive direction? Nutrients. 2011; 3, 429441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27. Alberts, M, Urdal, P, Steyn, K, et al. Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and associated risk factors in a rural black population of South Africa. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2005; 12, 347354.Google Scholar
28. Thorogood, M, Connor, M, Tollman, S, Lewando Hundt, G, Fowkes, G, Marsh, J. A cross-sectional study of vascular risk factors in a rural South African population: data from the Southern African Stroke Prevention Initiative (SASPI). BMC Public Health. 2007; 7, 326.Google Scholar
29. Kimani-Murage, EW, Kahn, K, Pettifor, JM, et al. The prevalence of stunting, overweight and obesity, and metabolic disease risk in rural South African children. BMC Public Health.. 2010; 10, 158.Google Scholar
30. Mayosi, BM, Flisher, AJ, Lalloo, UG, Sitas, F, Tollman, SM, Bradshaw, D. The burden of non-communicable diseases in South Africa. Lancet. 2009; 374, 934947.Google Scholar
31. Adair, LS, Martorell, R, Stein, AD, et al. Size at birth, weight gain in infancy and childhood, and adult blood pressure in 5 low- and middle-income-country cohorts: when does weight gain matter? Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 89, 13831392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32. Kuzawa, CW, Hallal, PC, Adair, L, et al. Birth weight, postnatal weight gain, and adult body composition in five low and middle income countries. Am J Hum Biol. 2012; 24, 513.Google Scholar
33. Norris, SA, Osmond, C, Gigante, D, et al. Size at birth, weight gain in infancy and childhood, and adult diabetes risk in five low- or middle-income country birth cohorts. Diabetes Care. 2012; 35, 7279.Google Scholar
34. Gunnell, D, Whitley, E, Upton, MN, McConnachie, A, Smith, GD, Watt, GC. Associations of height, leg length, and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003; 57, 141146.Google Scholar
35. Yach, D, Padayachee, GN, Cameron, N, Wagstaff, LA, Richter, L. ‘Birth to Ten’ – a study of children of the 1990s living in the Johannesburg-Soweto area. S Afr Med J. 1990; 77, 325326.Google Scholar
36. Richter, L, Norris, S, Pettifor, J, Yach, D, Cameron, N. Cohort profile: Mandela’s children: the 1990 birth to twenty study in South Africa. Int J Epidemiol. 2007; 36, 504511.Google Scholar
37. Richter, LM, Norris, SA, De Wet, T. Transition from birth to ten to birth to twenty: the South African cohort reaches 13 years of age. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2004; 18, 290301.Google Scholar
38. Richter, LM, Yach, D, Cameron, N, Griesel, RD, de Wet, T. Enrolment into birth to ten (BTT): population and sample characteristics. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1995; 9, 109120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39. Okosun, IS, Liao, Y, Rotimi, CN, Dever, GE, Cooper, RS. Impact of birth weight on ethnic variations in subcutaneous and central adiposity in American children aged 5-11 years. A study from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000; 24, 479484.Google Scholar
40. Yajnik, CS. The lifecycle effects of nutrition and body size on adult adiposity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obes Rev. 2002; 3, 217224.Google Scholar
41. Victora, CG, Sibbritt, D, Horta, BL, Lima, RC, Cole, T, Wells, J. Weight gain in childhood and body composition at 18 years of age in Brazilian males. Acta Paediatr. 2007; 96, 296300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42. Kuh, D, Hardy, R, Chaturvedi, N, Wadsworth, ME. Birth weight, childhood growth and abdominal obesity in adult life. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002; 26, 4047.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
43. Laitinen, J, Pietilainen, K, Wadsworth, M, Sovio, U, Jarvelin, MR. Predictors of abdominal obesity among 31-y-old men and women born in Northern Finland in 1966. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004; 58, 180190.Google Scholar
44. McCarthy, A, Hughes, R, Tilling, K, Davies, D, Smith, GD, Ben-Shlomo, Y. Birth weight; postnatal, infant, and childhood growth; and obesity in young adulthood: evidence from the Barry Caerphilly Growth Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007; 86, 907913.Google Scholar
45. Kuzawa, CW, McDade, TW, Adair, LS, Lee, N. Rapid weight gain after birth predicts life history and reproductive strategy in Filipino males. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2010; 107, 1680016805.Google Scholar
46. Corvalan, C, Gregory, CO, Ramirez-Zea, M, Martorell, R, Stein, AD. Size at birth, infant, early and later childhood growth and adult body composition: a prospective study in a stunted population. Int J Epidemiol. 2007; 36, 550557.Google Scholar
47. Singhal, A, Wells, J, Cole, TJ, Fewtrell, M, Lucas, A. Programming of lean body mass: a link between birth weight, obesity, and cardiovascular disease? Am J Clin Nutr. 2003; 77, 726730.Google Scholar
48. Ong, KK, Ahmed, ML, Emmett, PM, Preece, MA, Dunger, DB. Association between postnatal catch-up growth and obesity in childhood: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2000; 320, 967971.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
49. Nagaya, T, Yoshida, H, Takahashi, H, Matsuda, Y, Kawai, M. Body mass index (weight/height2) or percentage body fat by bioelectrical impedance analysis: which variable better reflects serum lipid profile? Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1999; 23, 771774.Google Scholar
50. Ferrara, A, Barrett-Connor, E, Shan, J. Total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol decrease with age in older men and women. The Rancho Bernardo Study 1984–1994. Circulation. 1997; 96, 3743.Google Scholar
51. Walton, C, Lees, B, Crook, D, Godsland, IF, Stevenson, JC. Relationships between insulin metabolism, serum lipid profile, body fat distribution and blood pressure in healthy men. Atherosclerosis. 1995; 118, 3543.Google Scholar
52. Smith, SR, Lovejoy, JC, Greenway, F, et al. Contributions of total body fat, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue compartments, and visceral adipose tissue to the metabolic complications of obesity. Metabolism. 2001; 50, 425435.Google Scholar
53. Folsom, AR, Li, Y, Rao, X, et al. Body mass, fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in a lean population of south China. J Clin Epidemiol. 1994; 47, 173181.Google Scholar
54. Schubert, CM, Rogers, NL, Remsberg, KE, et al. Lipids, lipoproteins, lifestyle, adiposity and fat-free mass during middle age: the Fels Longitudinal Study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006; 30, 251260.Google Scholar
55. Going, SB, Lohman, TG, Cussler, EC, Williams, DP, Morrison, JA, Horn, PS. Percent body fat and chronic disease risk factors in U.S. children and youth. Am J Prev Med. 2011; 41(Suppl. 2), S77S86.Google Scholar
56. Arnold, TJ, Schweitzer, A, Hoffman, HJ, et al. Neck and waist circumference biomarkers of cardiovascular risk in a cohort of predominantly African-American college students: a preliminary study. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014; 114, 107116.Google Scholar
57. Willi, SM, Hirst, K, Jago, R, et al. Cardiovascular risk factors in multi-ethnic middle school students: the HEALTHY primary prevention trial. Pediatr Obes. 2012; 7, 230239.Google Scholar
58. Sinaiko, AR, Donahue, RP, Jacobs, DR Jr., Prineas, RJ. Relation of weight and rate of increase in weight during childhood and adolescence to body size, blood pressure, fasting insulin, and lipids in young adults. The Minneapolis Children’s Blood Pressure Study. Circulation. 1999; 99, 14711476.Google Scholar
59. Cowin, I, Emmett, P. Cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, birthweight and central obesity in pre-school children. ALSPAC Study Team. Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000; 24, 330339.Google Scholar
60. Ziegler, B, Johnsen, SP, Thulstrup, AM, Engberg, M, Lauritzen, T, Sorensen, HT. Inverse association between birth weight, birth length and serum total cholesterol in adulthood. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2000; 34, 584588.Google Scholar
61. Bergstrom, E, Hernell, O, Persson, LA, Vessby, B. Serum lipid values in adolescents are related to family history, infant feeding, and physical growth. Atherosclerosis. 1995; 117, 113.Google Scholar
62. Law, CM, de Swiet, M, Osmond, C, et al. Initiation of hypertension in utero and its amplification throughout life. BMJ. 1993; 306(6869), 2427.Google Scholar
63. Lauren, L, Jarvelin, MR, Elliott, P, et al. Relationship between birthweight and blood lipid concentrations in later life: evidence from the existing literature. Int J Epidemiol. 2003; 32, 862876.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
64. Clausen, JO, Borch-Johnsen, K, Pedersen, O. Relation between birth weight and the insulin sensitivity index in a population sample of 331 young, healthy Caucasians. Am J Epidemiol. 1997; 146, 2331.Google Scholar
65. Kawabe, H, Shibata, H, Hirose, H, Tsujioka, M, Saito, I, Saruta, T. Sexual differences in relationships between birth weight or current body weight and blood pressure or cholesterol in young Japanese students. Hypertens Res. 1999; 22, 169172.Google Scholar
66. Antal, M, Agfalvi, R, Nagy, K, et al. Lipid status in adolescents born with low birth weight. Z Ernahrungswiss. 1998; 37(Suppl. 1), 131133.Google Scholar
67. Morley, R, Harland, P, Law, CM, Lucas, A. Birthweight and social deprivation: influences on serum lipids and fibrinogen. Acta Paediatr. 2000; 89, 703707.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
68. Li, C, Johnson, MS, Goran, MI. Effects of low birth weight on insulin resistance syndrome in caucasian and African-American children. Diabetes Care. 2001; 24, 20352042.Google Scholar
69. Okosun, IS, Dever, GE, Choi, ST. Low birth weight is associated with elevated serum lipoprotein(a) in white and black American children ages 5-11 y. Public Health. 2002; 116, 3338.Google Scholar
70. Boyne, MS, Osmond, C, Fraser, RA, et al. Developmental origins of cardiovascular risk in Jamaican children: the Vulnerable Windows Cohort study. Br J Nutr. 2010; 104, 10261033.Google Scholar
71. Levitt, NS, Lambert, EV, Woods, D, Hales, CN, Andrew, R, Seckl, JR. Impaired glucose tolerance and elevated blood pressure in low birth weight, nonobese, young south african adults: early programming of cortisol axis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000; 85, 46114618.Google Scholar
72. Stein, AD, Conlisk, A, Torun, B, Schroeder, DG, Grajeda, R, Martorell, R. Cardiovascular disease risk factors are related to adult adiposity but not birth weight in young Guatemalan adults. J Nutr. 2002; 132, 22082214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
73. Barker, DJ. Commentary: developmental origins of raised serum cholesterol. Int J Epidemiol. 2003; 32, 876877.Google Scholar
74. Roseboom, TJ, van der Meulen, JH, Osmond, C, Barker, DJ, Ravelli, AC, Bleker, OP. Plasma lipid profiles in adults after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000; 72, 11011106.Google Scholar
75. Owen, CG, Whincup, PH, Odoki, K, Gilg, JA, Cook, DG. Infant feeding and blood cholesterol: a study in adolescents and a systematic review. Pediatrics. 2002; 110, 597608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
76. Mi, J, Law, C, Zhang, KL, Osmond, C, Stein, C, Barker, D. Effects of infant birthweight and maternal body mass index in pregnancy on components of the insulin resistance syndrome in China. Ann Intern Med. 2000; 132, 253260.Google Scholar
77. Petkeviciene, J, Klumbiene, J, Kriaucioniene, V, Raskiliene, A, Sakyte, E, Ceponiene, I. Anthropometric measurements in childhood and prediction of cardiovascular risk factors in adulthood: Kaunas cardiovascular risk cohort study. BMC Public Health.. 2015; 15, 218.Google Scholar
78. Norman, R, Bradshaw, D, Steyn, K, Gaziano, T. South African comparative risk assessment collaborating G. Estimating the burden of disease attributable to high cholesterol in South Africa in 2000. S Afr Med J. 2007; 97(Pt 2), 708715.Google Scholar
79. Sliwa, K, Lyons, JG, Carrington, MJ, et al. Different lipid profiles according to ethnicity in the Heart of Soweto study cohort of de novo presentations of heart disease. Cardiovasc J Afr. 2012; 23, 389395.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Musa supplementary material S1

Supplementary Tables

Download Musa supplementary material S1(File)
File 26.8 KB