Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 154, Issue 1, Pages 21-29Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/aje/154.1.21
Keywords
birth weight; body height; body mass index; family; gestational age; longitudinal studies; obesity; twins
Categories
Funding
- NIAAA NIH HHS [AA 08315] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Birth weight has correlated positively with adult body mass index (BMI), but rarely have birth length, duration of gestation, or parents' body size been taken into account. The authors examined tracking of birth length and weight, adjusted for gestational age, to late adolescence, with special reference to parents' height and BMI. Longitudinal information from a nationally representative sample of Finnish twin adolescents (birth cohorts 1975-1979) and their parents was collected via questionnaires mailed when the twins were aged 16 years (n = 4,376; 2,062 males, 2,314 females) and 18 years (n = 3,917; 1,742 males, 2,175 females). The twins showed significant tracking of body size from birth to late adolescence, which was greatly influenced by their parents' body size. Height in adolescence was predicted by length and weight at birth and by parents' height, whereas BMI was predicted by birth weight and parents' BMI. An especially high risk for overweight was found for subjects of average length but a high weight at birth. These findings suggest that the intrauterine period has enduring effects on later body size but leave unresolved whether these effects are genetic or environmental.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available