Developmental origins of cardiovascular risk in Jamaican children: The Vulnerable Windows Cohort Study

Abstract

Both intra-uterine and early childhood development contribute to the risk of developing CVD in adult life. We therefore evaluated the maternal, placental, fetal, birth, infant and childhood determinants of cardiovascular risk in a cohort of Afro-Jamaican children. The Vulnerable Windows Cohort is a longitudinal survey of 569 mothers and their offspring recruited from the first trimester. The offspring's anthropometry was measured at birth, at 6 weeks, every 3 months to 1 year and then every 6 months. At mean age 11·5 years, fasting blood was sampled for glucose, insulin and lipids. Analyses were confined to 296 women and their offspring who had complete data. Waist circumference (WC) was related to maternal weight and BMI, placental weight and to the size of the offspring in utero, at birth and the rate of growth in childhood (P,0·05). Total cholesterol, TAG and glucose concentrations were unrelated to maternal, placental, fetal, neonatal and childhood measurements. Fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance were related to maternal weight and BMI (P,0·05), but not after adjusting for WC. HDL-cholesterol was inversely related to placental and birth weight, and inversely related to weight and BMI throughout childhood (P, 0·001), but not after adjusting for WC. Systolic blood pressure was directly related to maternal weight, child's height, weight and BMI (P, 0·05), but not after adjustment for WC. Systolic blood pressure and fasting glucose concentration were inversely related to birth weight in boys but directly associated in girls. We concluded that maternal anthropometry during pregnancy, fetal size, and childhood growth rate contribute to cardiovascular risk factors in childhood.

Testing the fetal overnutrition hypothesis; the relationship of maternal and paternal adiposity to adiposity, insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk factors in Indian children

“…Some found a greater influence of the mother's than the father's BMI on offspring BMI (7,(11)(12)(13) or fat mass (14) , while others have reported that both predict offspring BMI (6,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) or fat mass equally (19) . Only a few studies have reported associations between maternal adiposity and childhood CVD risk factors such as blood pressure (8,21,22) , lipid profile (23) and insulin resistance (24) . Studies examining associations between paternal adiposity and CVD risk factors in children are scarce.…”

Low birthweight or rapid catch-up growth: which is more associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in later life? A systematic review and cryptanalysis

“…2. Mean SBP was related to rapid postnatal catch-up growth in five studies, 21,30,36,39,55 significantly so in three of them. 30,36,55 3.…”

“…30,36,55 3. Mean DBP was related to BW and rapid catch-up growth in four studies, 30,36,39,55 three of which 30,36,39 had statistically significant findings. In one other study, 21 it was equal in cases and controls.…”

“…4. Serum insulin was related to rapid catch-up weight in six studies, 21,25,30,34,39,55 with statistically significant findings in five of them. 21,25,30,34,39 5.…”

“…All four studies 25,29,34,59 which investigated BW and weight in later life indicated that later weight gain was higher in the SGA than in the AGA group, and in three of them 29,34,59 the findings were significant. Moreover, of eight studies 21,25,30,36,39,42,48,55 investigating the relationship between BW and BMI in adolescence, five 25,36,42,48,55 reported that mean BMI was higher in the SGA than in the AGA group, and the findings were significant in four of them. 36,42,48,55 In three other studies 21,30,39 in which mean BMI was non-significantly lower in the SGA than in the AGA group, the increase in BMI was more prevalent in the SGA group.…”