Birth weight and risk of type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity and hypertension among Chinese adults.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between birth weight and risk of type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity and hypertension among Chinese adults. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES Nine hundred and seventy-three individuals from a population-based cross-sectional survey for the prevalence of type 2 diabetes conducted in Shanghai in 2002 were enrolled and followed up to 2004 with yearly examination. Birth weight was classified into four categories: <2500, 2500-2999, 3000-3499 and >or=3500 g. RESULTS In this study, there were 373 males and 600 females, with a mean age of 46.2+/-9.9 years. Fasting plasma glucose was higher in subjects with the lowest birth weight (<2500 g) compared with those with the highest birth weight. Waist circumference and systolic blood pressure showed U-shaped relationships with birth weight. Birth weight was found to be an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity and hypertension. For type 2 diabetes, the crude odds ratio (95% confidence interval) was 3.17 (1.48-6.78) in the lowest birth weight category when compared with that in the highest birth weight category (>or=3500 g) and the ratio increased to 3.97 (1.71-9.22) after adjustment for related variables. The highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes (34.5%) was observed among those with the lowest birth weight and abdominal obesity. CONCLUSIONS Birth weight is inversely associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. Subjects with the lowest or the highest birth weight were associated with a high risk of developing abdominal obesity and hypertension. Low birth weight coupled with abdominal obesity is a strong predictor of type 2 diabetes.

[1]  M. Gillman.  Re: "Why evidence for the fetal origins of adult disease might be a statistical artifact: the 'reversal paradox' for the relation between birth weight and blood pressure in later life". , 2005, American journal of epidemiology.

[2]  V. Janout,et al.  Insulin resistance and birth weight. , 2005, Biomedical papers of the Medical Faculty of the University Palacky, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia.

[3]  P. Hofman,et al.  Premature birth and later insulin resistance. , 2004, The New England journal of medicine.

[4]  D. Dunger,et al.  Birth weight, infant growth and insulin resistance. , 2004, European journal of endocrinology.

[5]  P. Lichtenstein,et al.  Low birthweight and Type 2 diabetes: a study on 11 162 Swedish twins. , 2004, International journal of epidemiology.

[6]  E. Tai,et al.  Can we apply the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel definition of the metabolic syndrome to Asians? , 2004, Diabetes care.

[7]  G. Watt,et al.  Inverse Association Between Birth Weight and C-Reactive Protein Concentrations in the MIDSPAN Family Study , 2004, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

[8]  D. Barker.  Developmental origins of adult health and disease , 2004, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[9]  T. Cole,et al.  Early and late growth and blood pressure in adolescence , 2003, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[10]  L. Chuang,et al.  Low birth weight and high birth weight infants are both at an increased risk to have type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren in taiwan. , 2003, Diabetes care.

[11]  S. Heymsfield,et al.  Waist circumference and obesity-associated risk factors among whites in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: clinical action thresholds. , 2002, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[12]  W. Jia,et al.  Epidemiological study on obesity and its comorbidities in urban Chinese older than 20 years of age in Shanghai, China , 2002, Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[13]  T. Byers,et al.  Association of a woman's own birth weight with subsequent risk for gestational diabetes. , 2002, JAMA.

[14]  T. Parsons,et al.  Fetal and early life growth and body mass index from birth to early adulthood in 1958 British cohort: longitudinal study , 2001, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[15]  R. Lindsay,et al.  Relationship between birth weight and body composition, energy metabolism, and sympathetic nervous system activity later in life. , 2000, Obesity research.

[16]  Clive Osmond,et al.  Effects of Infant Birthweight and Maternal Body Mass Index in Pregnancy on Components of the Insulin Resistance Syndrome in China , 2000, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[17]  T. Spector,et al.  Association between birth weight and adult blood pressure in twins: historical cohort study , 1999, BMJ.

[18]  R. Hanson,et al.  Birth weight, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance in Pima Indian children and young adults. , 1999, Diabetes care.

[19]  J. Manson,et al.  Birthweight and the Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Adult Women , 1999, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[20]  P. Raskin,et al.  Report of the expert committee on the diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. , 1999, Diabetes care.

[21]  E. Barrett-Connor,et al.  Birth Weight, Adult Weight, and Girth as Predictors of the Metabolic Syndrome in Postmenopausal Women: The Rancho Bernardo Study , 1998, Diabetes Care.

[22]  B. Metzger,et al.  Long-term effects of the intrauterine environment. The Northwestern University Diabetes in Pregnancy Center. , 1998, Diabetes care.

[23]  K. Rothman,et al.  Relation between weight and length at birth and body mass index in young adulthood: cohort study , 1997, BMJ.

[24]  X. Pan,et al.  Prevalence of Diabetes and Its Risk Factors in China, 1994 , 1997, Diabetes Care.

[25]  M. Fantone,et al.  Report of the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus , 1997, Diabetes Care.

[26]  D J Barker,et al.  Fetal origins of coronary heart disease , 1995, BMJ.

[27]  G. Beunen,et al.  Birth weight and its relationship to size attained and relative fat distribution at 7 to 12 years of age. , 1996, Obesity research.

[28]  P. McKeigue,et al.  Relation of size at birth to non-insulin dependent diabetes and insulin concentrations in men aged 50-60 years , 1996, BMJ.

[29]  D. Barker.  Fetal origins of coronary heart disease , 1995, BMJ.

[30]  D. Barker,et al.  Thinness at Birth and Glucose Tolerance in Seven‐year‐old Children , 1995, Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association.

[31]  C. Lenfant,et al.  National High Blood Pressure Education Program. , 1986, Journal of the American Optometric Association.

[32]  Wang Ai-rong.  Association of birth weight with abnormal metabolism during adulthood in Pingliang Community of Shanghai , 2005 .

[33]  Yu-Kang Tu,et al.  Why evidence for the fetal origins of adult disease might be a statistical artifact: the "reversal paradox" for the relation between birth weight and blood pressure in later life. , 2005, American journal of epidemiology.

[34]  C. Osmond,et al.  Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia (syndrome X): relation to reduced fetal growth , 2004, Diabetologia.

[35]  R. Weinshilboum,et al.  The sixth report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure. , 1997, Archives of internal medicine.

[36]  Detection.  The sixth report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VI) , 1997 .