Reduced Prenatal Weight Gain and/or Augmented Postnatal Weight Gain Precedes Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Adolescent Girls

ObjectiveHepato-visceral fat excess is a feature of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Risk factors for such excess include low prenatal weight gain and high postnatal weight gain. This study examined whether adolescent PCOS was preceded by a relatively low birth weight and/or a relatively high BMI at diagnosis. MethodsStudy participants included 467 girls with PCOS (298 without obesity and 169 with obesity), diagnosed, respectively, in Spain and Germany; 87 healthy girls were controls. Z scores for weight at birth and BMI at PCOS diagnosis were derived, and their differences were calculated. ResultsSpanish girls with PCOS and without obesity and German girls with PCOS and obesity had mean birth weight z scores of -0.7 and 0.0, respectively, and mean BMI z scores of+0.4 and +2.7, respectively, so that mean z score increments amounted to +1.1 and +2.6 (P<0.001 vs. controls). ConclusionsPCOS in adolescent girls was preceded by marked z score increments between weight at birth and BMI at PCOS diagnosis, thus corroborating the notion that PCOS development is driven by a mismatch between prenatal weight gain and postnatal weight gain.