Transmission through the female line of a mechanism constraining human fetal growth

Ounsted, Margaret; Scott, A. J.; Ounsted, Christopher

doi:10.1080/03014468600008281

Cited by 91 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This could help to avoid dystocic deliveries in women with a short stature because of intrauterine growth retardation in fetal life and stunted growth in childhood despite a genetic potential for a longer stature, in line with the constraining factor proposed by Ounsted et al (1986).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Maternal nutrition and socio‐economic status as determinants of birthweight in chronically malnourished African women

Andersson¹,

Bergström

1997

Tropical Med Int Health

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SummaryThe birthweight is the most important determinant of mortality and morbidity in the neonatal period and may have an influence on health in adult life. The high rate of low birthweight in developing countries is therefore a major health problem. Maternal malnutrition is usually assumed to be a causal factor but other environmental factors are also involved. In this study we analysed maternal nutritional and socio-economic factors as determinants of birthweight in term infants from a rural African society characterised by a high rate of chronic malnutrition. Relations of maternal weight, gestational weight gain, parity, socio-economic status and infant sex with birthweight were analysed in 1 477 women and child pairs. The selected women were followed from early pregnancy and had an uncomplicated delivery at term of a living singleton child. The gestational weight gain was 5.6 (SD 6.0) kg and the mean birthweight 2.933 kg (SD 408). Maternal weight, representing the maternal long-term nutritional situation, was the most important independent determinant of birthweight, accounting for 13.0% of the variance in birthweight. The weight gain, representing the short-term nutritional situation, explained only 5.6% of the variance. Birthweight increased by 20 g (CI 18-23) for each kg maternal weight and by 15g (CI 12-18) for each kg gestational weight gained. The socio-economic difference in birth-weight was 153 g 88 of which (CI 48-128) remained unexplained after adjustment for differences in maternal weight, parity and gender. Improved long-term nutritional situation and living conditions seems to be the most important prerequisites to counteract low birthweight in developing countries.keywords Birthweight, gestational weight gain, socio-economic status, nutrition and developing countries correspondence Dr

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Maternal nutrition and socio‐economic status as determinants of birthweight in chronically malnourished African women

Andersson¹,

Bergström

1997

Tropical Med Int Health

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“…The most important is the mother's birth weight adjusted for gestation, which is more predictive than her unadjusted birth weight. Thus, maternal fetal growth rate predicts the infant's fetal growth rate, as hypothesized by Ounsted et al (1986). Smoking in pregnancy is a known risk factor for low birth weight, and maternal weight-for-height is known to be related to birth weight, but the effect of early menarche on birth weight is not so well-known.…”

Section: Height Factorsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Secular trends in growth

Cole¹

2000

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

461

389

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Since the 19th century there have been clearly documented secular trends to increasing adult height in most European countries, with current rates of 10–30 mm / decade. Over the same period menarcheal age has also fallen steeply, but has now stabilized at approximately 13 years and may be rising again. Height trends tend to be greater in childhood than in adulthood due to the associated advance in maturation, but no trends are apparent before the age of 2 years. In particular, birth-weight trends are small and different in shape from height trends. The adult height trend matches that at age 2 years, so that the increment in adult height has already been achieved by age 2 years. To try to identify factors relating to the secular trend, increased height gain in late infancy is hypothesized to be equivalent to a reduction in stunting, and stunting is thought to be caused by impaired growth in the long bones of the leg in later infancy. Leg growth may be regulated by the expression of growth-hormone receptors on the growth plates, which it is hypothesized are susceptible to the interaction between concurrent nutrition and the nominal growth rate set during pregnancy. The timing of menarche is also likely to be determined by some growth factor operating near the time of birth, which also affects later weight, but not height.

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“…The growth of first-born babies appears to be restrained as they are smaller at birth and then show postnatal rapid catch-up weight gain (Ong et al 2002). In these first-borns birth weight correlations with maternal and grand-maternal birth weights are particularly strong (Ounsted et al 1986(Ounsted et al , 1988. The nature of this maternal inheritance of birth weight is unclear.…”

Section: Prenatal Exposuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Session 7: Early nutrition and later health Early developmental pathways of obesity and diabetes risk

2007

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Size at birth and patterns of postnatal weight gain have been associated with adult risk for the development of type 2 diabetes in many populations, but the putative pathophysiological link remains unknown. Studies of contemporary populations indicate that rapid infancy weight gain, which may follow fetal growth restriction, is an important risk factor for the development of childhood obesity and insulin resistance. Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood shows that rapid catch-up weight gain can lead to the development of insulin resistance, as early as 1 year of age, in association with increasing accumulation of central abdominal fat mass. In contrast, the disposition index, which reflects the β-cells ability to maintain insulin secretion in the face of increasing insulin resistance, is much more closely related to ponderal index at birth than postnatal catch-up weight gain. Infants with the lowest ponderal index at birth show a reduced disposition index at aged 8 years associated with increases in fasting NEFA levels. The disposition index is also closely related to childhood height gain and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels; reduced insulin secretory capacity being associated with reduced statural growth, and relatively short stature with reduced IGF-I levels at age 8 years. IGF-I may have an important role in the maintenance of β-cell mass, as demonstrated by recent studies of pancreatic β-cell IGF-I receptor knock-out and adult observational studies indicating that low IGF-I levels are predictive of subsequent risk for the development of type 2 diabetes. However, as insulin secretion is an important determinant of IGF-I levels, cause and effect may be difficult to establish. In conclusion, although rapid infancy weight gain and increasing rates of childhood obesity will increase the risk for the development of insulin resistance, prenatal and postnatal determinants of β-cell mass may ultimately be the most important determinants of an individual's ability to maintain insulin secretion in the face of increasing insulin resistance, and thus risk for the development of type 2 diabetes.

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Transmission through the female line of a mechanism constraining human fetal growth

Cited by 91 publications

References 22 publications

Maternal nutrition and socio‐economic status as determinants of birthweight in chronically malnourished African women

Maternal nutrition and socio‐economic status as determinants of birthweight in chronically malnourished African women

Secular trends in growth

Session 7: Early nutrition and later health Early developmental pathways of obesity and diabetes risk

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