Effects of prenatal exposure to the 1983-1985 Ethiopian great famine on the metabolic syndrome in adults: a historical cohort study

The Ethiopian great famine was one of the severe forms of global famines ever documented in Africa as well as in the recent history of the world. Earlier famine studies, as natural experiments, had tested the association between prenatal famine exposure and the metabolic syndrome and reported heterogeneous findings. Hence, this study aimed at evaluating the effects of prenatal exposure to the 1983-1985 Ethiopian great famine on the metabolic syndrome in adults. Self-reported birth date and age of the study subjects were used to classify the status of famine exposure. The International Diabetes Federation criterion was used to assess the metabolic syndrome. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to examine relationship between prenatal famine exposure and the metabolic syndrome. The findings showed that, adjusted for covariates, adults who had prenatal exposure to famine were 2 center dot 94 times more likely to develop the metabolic syndrome compared with non-exposed groups (adjusted OR (AOR) 2 center dot 94, 95 % CI 1 center dot 66, 5 center dot 27). More specifically, famine exposure during prenatal life was associated with increased waist circumference (AOR 2 center dot 27 cm, 95 % CI 0 center dot 28, 4 center dot 26), diastolic blood pressure (AOR 2 center dot 47 mmHg, 95 % CI 0 center dot 84, 4 center dot 11), TAG (AOR 0 center dot 20 mmol/l, 95 % CI 0 center dot 10, 0 center dot 28) and fasting blood glucose (AOR 0 center dot 24 mmol/l, 95 % CI 0 center dot 04, 0 center dot 43) compared with the control groups. Higher proportion of the metabolic syndrome, risky anthropometric and dyslipidaemic parameters were observed among exposed groups. This finding adds further evidence on fetal origin of adult diseases hypothesis. The finding may imply that one potential means of preventing adulthood metabolic syndrome is to optimise maternal nutrition during pregnancy.