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A structural equation model of the developmental origins of blood pressure

D L Dahly1, L S Adair, K A Bollen

  • 1Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA. dahly@email.unc.edu

International Journal of Epidemiology
|November 29, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Maternal height and arm fat area influence fetal development, impacting birth weight positively and systolic blood pressure inversely in young adulthood. This study refines understanding of fetal environment effects.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Human Development
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Birth size is an inadequate proxy for the fetal environment.
  • Existing regression models for birth size and blood pressure lack robustness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model the fetal environment as a latent variable.
  • To assess the association between the latent fetal environment (LFE) and systolic blood pressure (SBP).
  • To control for birth weight (BW) and current weight (CW) in the analysis.

Main Methods:

  • Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed.
  • Maternal height and arm fat area (AFA) determined the latent fetal environment (LFE).
  • Data from 2653 young adult Filipinos (mean age 21) from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • The SEM model demonstrated excellent fit.
  • An inverse relationship was observed between LFE and SBP in both males and females.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal height and AFA positively influence fetal growth (BW).
  • Maternal height and AFA are inversely associated with young adult SBP.
  • These findings support the hypothesis on fetal environment's impact on long-term health outcomes.
Abstract

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