Size at birth, obesity and blood pressure at age five

Area of Science:

• Developmental origins of health and disease
• Pediatric health
• Nutritional science

Background:

• The fetal origins hypothesis suggests in-utero nutritional deprivation impacts later health, including obesity and cardiovascular disease.
• It remains unclear if these effects manifest in contemporary Western populations with normal birth weights and at what age.
• This study investigated the link between fetal nutrition markers and later health outcomes in a specific child cohort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if morphometric evidence of in-utero nutritional restriction predicts obesity or elevated blood pressure at ages 5-6.
• To examine if these effects are present in offspring with normal birth weights.
• To assess population specificity and early-life appearance of these developmental impacts.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 101 offspring born to well-nourished mothers.
• Morphometric evaluation at birth and ages 5-6.
• Blood pressure measurement at ages 5-6.

Main Results:

• No significant negative correlations were found between neonatal morphometrics and obesity or blood pressure at ages 5-6.
• Positive correlations were observed between birth weight and weight/BMI at ages 5-6 (p < 0.0001).
• Childhood morphometrics correlated with birth size, but not with indicators of in-utero nutritional deprivation.

Conclusions:

• In this cohort, birth size, not indicators of fetal nutritional deprivation, correlated with childhood size.
• Morphometric evidence of in-utero nutritional restriction at birth did not predict obesity or high blood pressure at ages 5-6.
• Findings suggest that for this specific population, the fetal origins hypothesis regarding nutritional deprivation may not apply to early childhood obesity and blood pressure.