Could Low Birth Weight be Associated with Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescence?

Purpose Previous studies have shown that low birth weight (LBW) is associated with cardiovascular risk in late adulthood. Recent studies in adolescents suggest that modifiable factors may have greater influence on increased cardiovascular risk. This study aims to investigate the association between LBW and changes in anthropometric and biochemical risk factors during adolescence in a population with low average socioeconomic status. Methods In a retrospective double cohort, data of birth weight were extracted from hospital records of children born on the same day between 1992 and 2002. According to the World Health Organization, we classified the children as having LBW or normal birth weight. A total of 172 subjects among children, adolescents and adults were researched. We measured anthropometric and clinical data, lipid profile and glucose after an overnight fasting. The low and normal weight groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U, Fischer exact, Chi-square (χ2) and Student's t tests. Results Pregnant women with preeclampsia delivered more newborns with LBW (p < 0.001). Anthropometric and clinical parameters were similar between groups. No differences were found in the family history of cardiovascular diseases (p = 0.1), family incomes (p = 0.8) and maternal school education (p = 0.8) between groups. Conclusion In this study, LBW did not increase cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescents. We observed absence of association between low birth weight and poor health outcomes among adolescents with low socioeconomic status from an urban city in the Brazilian northeast.