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J G Eriksson a National Public Health Institute,
Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Diabetes and Genetic
Epidemiology Unit, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland, b Medical Research Council Environmental Epidemiology Unit,
University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton
S016 6YD
Correspondence to: Professor Barker
david.barker{at}mrc.soton.ac.uk
Objective:
To examine whether catch-up growth during childhood modifies the increased risk of death from coronary heart disease that is associated with reduced intrauterine growth.
Design:
Follow up study of men whose body size at birth was recorded and who had an average of 10 measurements taken of
their height and weight through childhood.
Setting:
Helsinki, Finland.
Subjects:
3641 men who were born in Helsinki
University Central Hospital during 1924-33 and who went to school in Helsinki.
Main outcome measures:
Hazard ratios for death from
coronary heart disease.
Results:
Death from coronary heart disease was
associated with low birth weight and, more strongly, with a low
ponderal index at birth. Men who died from coronary heart disease had
an above average body mass index at all ages from 7 to 15 years. In a
simultaneous regression the hazard ratio for death from the disease
increased by 14% (95% confidence interval 8% to 19%; P<0.0001) for
each unit (kg/m3) decrease in ponderal index at birth and
by 22% (10% to 36%; P=0.0001) for each unit (kg/m2)
increase in body mass index at 11 years of age. Body mass index in
childhood was strongly related to maternal body mass index, which in
turn was related to coronary heart disease. The extent of crowding in
the home during childhood, although related to body mass index in
childhood, was not related to later coronary heart disease.
Conclusion:
The highest death rates from coronary
heart disease occurred in boys who were thin at birth but whose weight caught up so that they had an average or above average body mass from
the age of 7 years. Death from coronary heart disease may be a
consequence of poor prenatal nutrition followed by improved postnatal nutrition.
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