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Early infantile growth and cardiovascular risks in adolescent Japanese women
Hiroki Ohmi1, Chieko Kato2, Martin Meadows3
1Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Health and Welfare Science, Nayoro City University, Japan.
Insights
Infant growth patterns impact adolescent health. Restricted prenatal growth and rapid early infancy weight gain are linked to higher adolescent body mass index and blood pressure, indicating future cardiovascular risks.
Area of Science:
- Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)
- Pediatric growth and development
- Cardiovascular risk factors
Background:
- Early life events, including prenatal and infant stages, influence long-term health.
- Understanding infantile growth patterns is crucial for predicting adolescent health outcomes.
- The relationship between early growth and later body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the correlation between infantile growth patterns and adolescent BMI and blood pressure.
- To identify specific growth phases in infancy that are associated with adolescent cardiovascular risk factors.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of growth patterns in utero and infancy for 168 female college students.
- Correlation of current BMI and systolic blood pressure with historical growth data.
- Stepwise multiple regression to identify independent predictors of adolescent systolic blood pressure.
Main Results:
- Adolescent BMI and systolic blood pressure positively correlated with weight-for-age z-score changes between 1-18 months.
- Early weight gain (1-18 months) and 1-month BMI independently predicted adolescent systolic blood pressure.
- Birth BMI negatively correlated with adolescent BMI, while 36-month BMI positively correlated.
Conclusions:
- Restricted prenatal growth and accelerated infant weight gain are associated with increased adolescent BMI and systolic blood pressure.
- These findings highlight potential long-term cardiovascular risks linked to early life growth trajectories.
- Observed trends in Japan, such as increased low birth weight and catch-up growth, may foreshadow a rise in DOHaD-related diseases.
Objective:
Early life events connected with the risk of later disease can occur not only in utero, but also in infancy. In study of the developmental origins of health and disease, the relationship between infantile growth patterns and adolescent body mass index and blood pressure is one of the most important issues to verify.
Materials And Methods:
We analyzed the correlation of current body mass index and systolic blood pressure of 168 female college students with their growth patterns in utero and in infancy.
Results:
Body mass index and systolic blood pressure in adolescence showed positive correlations with changes in weight-for-age z scores between 1 and 18 months but not with those between 18 and 36 months. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that both change in weight-for-age z scores from 1 to 18 months and body mass index at 1 month were significantly and independently associated with systolic blood pressure in adolescence. Body mass index at 36 months was positively correlated with body mass index in adolescence, while body mass index at birth was negatively correlated with body mass index in adolescence.
Conclusion:
Our findings shows that restricted growth in utero and accelerated weight gain in early infancy are associated with the cardiovascular risk factors of high systolic blood pressure and high body mass index in adolescence. In Japan, an increasing proportion of low birth weight infants and accelerated catch-up growth after birth have been observed in recent decades. This might be an alarming harbinger of an increase in diseases related to the developmental origins of health and disease in Japan.
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