Early influences on the secular change in adult height between the parents and children of the 1958 birth cohort

Alberman, Eva; Filakti, H; Williams, Sheila; Evans, Stephen; Emanuel, Irvin

doi:10.1080/03014469100001472

Cited by 68 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…There were no differences in prevalent diabetes, insulin resistance or other metabolic risk factors between women who provided details of their birth weight and those who did not (all p values >0.1). The age adjusted Pearson's correlation coefficients (95% CI) for the association between selfreported birth weight and current height (0.25; 0.19, 0.30) weight (0.12; 0.06, 0.17), BMI (0.02; -0.04, 0.07) and waist-to-hip ratio (-0.04; -0.09, 0.02) in those with self-reported birth weights were all in the same direction and of a similar magnitude to those reported in studies comparing birth weights from hospital records to adult anthropometric measurements in western populations [18,19]. Self-reported birth weight was also positively associated with both leg length and trunk length-age adjusted Pearson's correlation coefficient for the association between birth weight and leg length 0.15 (0.11, 0.19) and between birth weight and trunk length 0.16 (0.11, 0.02).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 73%

The association between components of adult height and Type II diabetes and insulin resistance: British Women's Heart and Health Study

2002

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Aims/hypothesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between components of adult height (leg length, trunk length, ratio of leg to trunk length) and Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance. Methods. A cross sectional study was carried out on 4286 women of age 60 to 79 years from 23 towns across England, Scotland and Wales. Results. Total height was weakly and inversely associated with diabetes but this masked differences in the association with leg and trunk length. Leg length was inversely associated with Type II diabetes [age adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) for diabetes for each standard deviation (4.3 cm) increase in leg length: 0.81 (0.73, 0.90)] whereas trunk length was not associated with diabetes [age adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) for diabetes for each standard deviation (3.6 cm) increase in trunk length: 1.05 (0.94, 1.18)]. Adjustment for potential confounding factors attenuated but did not remove the inverse association between leg length and the prevalence of diabetes: fully adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) per standard deviation increase in leg length was 0.87 (0.77, 0.98) and that per standard deviation increase in the ratio of leg to trunk length was 0.88 (0.78, 0.99). In non-diabetic women leg length was inversely associated with insulin resistance, whereas trunk length was positively associated with insulin resistance. Conclusion/interpretation. Leg length is an indicator of early childhood environmental circumstances, in particular of infant nutrition. These results suggest that poor infant nutrition is an important causal factor in the development of Type II diabetes and insulin resistance in later life. [Diabetologia (2002[Diabetologia ( ) 45: 1097[Diabetologia ( -1106

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 73%

The association between components of adult height and Type II diabetes and insulin resistance: British Women's Heart and Health Study

2002

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“…12 Furthermore, birth weight category distributions and association between birth weight and adult height 11 were similar to those observed in the 1958 British cohort. 12,13 Therefore, the following results are for volunteers with birth weights between 800 and 5000 g. However, the results were similar when all of the data were included or participants with a high likelihood of having been born prematurely (birth weight Ͻ1500 g) were excluded.…”

Section: Validating Recalled Birth Weightsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Association Between Birth Weight and Blood Pressure Is Robust, Amplifies With Age, and May Be Underestimated

et al. 2006

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Abstract-Data on the early life origins of adult hypertension have been widely reported: however, recent research shows that the strength of association between small size at birth and higher blood pressure weakens as study size increases.In this article, we retest the association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure in a large cohort, examine whether age interacts with birth weight to predict blood pressure, and explore reasons why birth weight-blood pressure associations tend to weaken with increasing study size. Key Words: blood pressure Ⅲ epidemiology Ⅲ infant nutrition Ⅲ blood pressure determination T he "fetal origins" hypothesis suggests that "insults" at critical periods during fetal development can lead to permanent metabolic and structural changes in the fetus increasing the risk of many diseases in adulthood. 1 One key finding in support of this hypothesis is the observation, now replicated in many populations, that lower birth weight is associated with higher adult systolic blood pressure (SBP) 1,2 : an association observed independently of socioeconomic position. 3 Surprisingly, despite the wealth of literature in this field, the precise nature of the association between birth weight and blood pressure remains contentious.One important area of recent debate has focused on the strength of association between birth weight and blood pressure. In the most recent systematic review, Huxley et al 4 concluded that birth weight had little relevance in determining blood pressure levels in later life. This finding was at odds with previous systematic reviews, which have suggested that SBP decreases by between 2 and 4 mm Hg for each 1-kg increase in birth weight. 5,6 Central to the argument put forward by Huxley et al 4 was that after ordering studies by statistical size (derived from the inverse of the variance of the regression coefficient), a clear trend (PϽ0.0001) was observed toward weaker associations between birth weight and blood pressure in the larger studies. In small studies (typically with Ͻ1000 participants), a 1-kg increase in birth weight was associated with a 1.9 mm Hg decrease in SBP, whereas in large studies (typically with Ͼ3000 participants), SBP was reduced by only 0.6 mm Hg/kg. Huxley et al 4 suggested that this was evidence of publication bias, with smaller studies being more likely to be published if they found strong inverse birth weight-blood pressure associations. 7 The authors argued that because larger studies are known to be less prone to publication bias, a decrease of 0.6 mm Hg/kg was nearer to the true association. An additional contentious area in the literature has been the actual nature of the association between birth weight and blood pressure. Even within the large studies reviewed by Huxley et al, 4 the association was inconsistent, with some large studies reporting a perfectly linear association across the birth weight continuum 8 and others reporting a reverse J-shape pattern, whereby those individuals with the highest birth weight also tended toward slightly...

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“…17 BT birth weight category distributions and the association between birth weight and adult height (3.8-cm increase in adult height per 1-kg increase in birth weight) were consistent with 1958 cohort findings (3.2-cm increase in adult height per 1-kg increase in birth weight). 18 This article reports the findings for participants with birth weights between 800 and 5000 g (although results are similar if all data are included). Repeat analysis excluding participants thought to have been born prematurely (Ͻ1500 g) also gave similar results.…”

Section: Validating Recalled Birth Weightsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Low Birth Weight Is Associated With Higher Adult Total Cholesterol Concentration in Men

et al. 2004

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Background-The majority of studies investigating the association between birth weight and adult total cholesterol (TC) concentration have been small and underpowered: not surprisingly, the findings have been inconsistent. We aimed to determine whether birth weight predicted adult TC in a large sample population. Methods and Results-Between 1994 and 1996, 132 000 British Telecom employees undertook voluntary occupational health screening. Birth weight and lifestyle factors were self-reported; TC concentration and body size were measured by occupational health nurses. Complete measurements were available for 18 286 men and 7557 women (age range, 17 to 64 years). We found that sex and birth weight significantly interacted to predict adult TC (birth weight/sex interaction term, Pϭ0.002). In men, lower birth weight was associated with higher adult TC levels (a Ϫ0.07 reduction in TC for each 1-kg increase in birth weight; 95% CI, Ϫ0.09 to Ϫ0.04 mmol/L; PϽ0.001), whereas no association was observed in women. Adjustment for potential confounding factors, including current body size and menopausal status, did not alter the findings. Analysis by SD score showed that in men, a 1-SD decrease in body mass index lowered TC concentration Ϸ5-fold more than a 1-SD increase in birth weight. Conclusions-This is the largest study to investigate the association between birth weight and TC and suggests that the association may be dependent on sex. The absence of an association in women was not explained by menopausal status. The influence of fetal environment on adult TC is small compared with the influence of adult adiposity. (Circulation.

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Early influences on the secular change in adult height between the parents and children of the 1958 birth cohort

Cited by 68 publications

References 12 publications

The association between components of adult height and Type II diabetes and insulin resistance: British Women's Heart and Health Study

The association between components of adult height and Type II diabetes and insulin resistance: British Women's Heart and Health Study

Association Between Birth Weight and Blood Pressure Is Robust, Amplifies With Age, and May Be Underestimated

Low Birth Weight Is Associated With Higher Adult Total Cholesterol Concentration in Men

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