ObjectiveTo examine associations between maternal height and child growth during 4 developmental periods: intrauterine, birth to age 2 years, age 2 years to mid-childhood (MC), and MC to adulthood.Study designPooled analysis of maternal height and offspring growth using 7630 mother–child pairs from 5 birth cohorts (Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa). We used conditional height measures that control for collinearity in height across periods. We estimated associations between maternal height and offspring growth using multivariate regression models adjusted for household income, child sex, birth order, and study site.ResultsMaternal height was associated with birth weight and with both height and conditional height at each age examined. The strongest associations with conditional heights were for adulthood and 2 years of age. A 1-cm increase in maternal height predicted a 0.024 (95% CI: 0.021-0.028) SD increase in offspring birth weight, a 0.037 (95% CI: 0.033-0.040) SD increase in conditional height at 2 years, a 0.025 (95% CI: 0.021-0.029 SD increase in conditional height in MC, and a 0.044 (95% CI: 0.040-0.048) SD increase in conditional height in adulthood. Short mothers (<150.1 cm) were more likely to have a child who was stunted at 2 years (prevalence ratio = 3.20 (95% CI: 2.80-3.60) and as an adult (prevalence ratio = 4.74, (95% CI: 4.13-5.44). There was no evidence of heterogeneity by site or sex.ConclusionMaternal height influences offspring linear growth over the growing period. These influences likely include genetic and non-genetic factors, including nutrition-related intergenerational influences on growth that prevent the attainment of genetic height potential in low- and middle-income countries.

Ecological cues during prenatal and postnatal development may allow organisms to adjust reproductive strategy. The hypothalamicpituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis is a prime candidate for adaptive plasticity as a result of its critical period of birth to 6 mo (B6M) in humans and the role of testosterone in the development and maintenance of costly sexually dimorphic somatic and behavioral traits. We hypothesized that weight velocity specific to B6M would predict male life history characteristics, including maturational timing, reproductive hormones, adult size, strength, and sexual activity. Data come from 770 Filipino men (age 20.5-22.5 y) followed since birth, with predictor variables including birth weight and weight velocities calculated at 6-mo intervals during the first 2 y of life. As expected, infants who were breastfed experienced less diarrhea, lived in wealthier households with better hygiene, and grew faster from B6M. Males with rapid B6M growth reached puberty earlier and, as young adults, had higher testosterone levels, were taller, more muscular, and had higher grip strength. They also had sex earlier and were more likely to report having had sex in the past month, resulting in more lifetime sex partners. Relationships between B6M weight gain and physical outcomes were generally not present or weaker in female subjects. We conclude that rapid weight gain specific to the brief postnatal hypothalamic-pituitarygonadal critical period predicts early maturation and sexual activity, elevated hormone production, and more costly adult somatic characteristics among the male subjects in this sample. These findings provide evidence for early life developmental plasticity in male life history and reproductive strategy in humans.adaptation | developmental plasticity | testosterone | endocrinology | growth and development D evelopmental plasticity in response to nutrients and hormones during fetal and infancy development can modify growth patterns, adult metabolism, and hormone regulation (1, 2). These effects are hypothesized to have evolved to allow modification of nutritional requirements and reproductive strategy as ecological conditions change (3-5). Maternally derived ecological cues transferred via the placenta or in breast milk could convey information about typical energetic or social experiences in the past (5, 6), and thus allow the developing organism to modify biological settings in anticipation of conditions likely to be experienced in the future (3, 4, 7).Although widely cited, this hypothesis has been subjected to minimal empirical testing in humans. A small number of human studies provide evidence for early life plasticity in reproductive biology, which has clear implications for genetic fitness and thus could be under selection. Jasienska and colleagues (8) reported that the threshold of energetic stress that suppresses ovarian steroidogenesis varies according to a woman's own birth weight, and they speculated that this indicates a capacity to reset energetic thresholds regulating initiation of pregn...

Objectives-Evaluate associations between birth weight (BW), infancy and childhood weight gain and adult body composition.Methods-Subjects included participants of five birth cohort studies from low and middle income nations (Brazil, Guatemala, India, Philippines, South Africa; n=3432). We modeled adult body composition as a function of BW and conditional weight gain (CW), representing changes in weight trajectory relative to peers, in three age intervals (0-12m, 12-24m, 24m-mid childhood).Results-In 34 of 36 site-and sex-specific models, regression coefficients associated with BW and CWs were higher for adult fat-free than for fat mass. The strength of coefficients predicting Europe PMC Funders GroupAuthor Manuscript Am J Hum Biol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 January 10. Europe PMC Funders Author ManuscriptsEurope PMC Funders Author Manuscripts fat-free mass relative to those predicting fat mass was greatest for birth weight, intermediate for CWs through 24 months, and weaker thereafter. However, because fat masses were smaller and showed larger variances than fat-free masses, weaker relationships with fat mass still yielded modest but significant increases in adult % body fat (PBF). CW at 12 months and mid-childhood tended to be strongest predictors of PBF, while BW was generally the weakest predictor of PBF. For most early growth measures, a 1 SD change predicted less than a 1% change in adult body fat, suggesting that any health impacts of early growth on changes in adult body composition are likely to be small in these cohorts.Conclusions-Birth weight and weight trajectories up to 24 months tend to be more strongly associated with adult fat-free mass than with fat mass, while weight trajectories in mid-childhood predict both fat mass and fat-free mass.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of being born preterm or small for gestational age (SGA) on several adult outcomes.Study designWe analyzed data for 4518 adult participants in 5 birth cohorts from Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa.ResultsIn the study population, 12.8% of males and 11.9% of females were born preterm, and 26.8% of males and 22.4% of females were born term but SGA. Adults born preterm were 1.11 cm shorter (95% CI, 0.57-1.65 cm), and those born term but SGA were 2.35 cm shorter (95% CI, 1.93-2.77 cm) compared with those born at term and appropriate size for gestational age. Blood pressure and blood glucose level did not differ by birth category. Compared with those born term and at appropriate size for gestational age, schooling attainment was 0.44 years lower (95% CI, 0.17-0.71 years) in those born preterm and 0.41 years lower (95% CI, 0.20-0.62 years) in those born term but SGA.ConclusionBeing born preterm or term but SGA is associated with persistent deficits in adult height and schooling, but is not related to blood pressure or blood glucose level in low- and middle-income settings. Increased postnatal growth is associated with gains in height and schooling regardless of birth status, but not with increases in blood pressure or blood glucose level.

Measuring executive function (EF) among adults is important, as the cognitive processes involved in EF are critical to academic achievement, job success and mental health. Current evidence on measurement and structure of EF largely come from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) countries. However, measuring EF in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is challenging, because of the dearth of EF measures validated across LMICs, particularly measures that do not require extensive training, expensive equipment, or professional administration. This paper uses data from three LMIC cohorts to test the feasibility, validity and reliability of EF assessment in adults using three sub-tests (representing key components of EF) of the NIH Toolbox Cognitive battery. For each cohort, all three EF measures (inhibition, flexibility and working memory) loaded well onto a unidimensional latent factor of EF. Factor scores related well to measures of fluid intelligence, processing speed and schooling. All measures showed good test-retest reliability across countries. This study provides evidence for a set of sound measures of EF that could be used across different cultural, language and socio-economic backgrounds in future LMIC research. Furthermore, our findings extend conclusions on the structure of EF beyond those drawn from WEIRD countries.

Background Although maternal infection and inflammation during pregnancy can adversely affect offspring birth weight (BW), whether low grade inflammation in the non-pregnant state predicts BW is unknown. Aim Evaluate relationships between offspring BW and pro- and anti-inflammatory factors measured in parous but non-pregnant women. Subjects and methods Data come from 234 parous Filipino females (21.5 ± 0.3 yr) in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, a population-based birth cohort in Metropolitan Cebu, Philippines. Pro-inflammatory [Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), C-reactive protein (CRP)] and anti-inflammatory [Interleukin-10 (IL-10)] factors were measured in fasting plasma when the women were not pregnant, and related to recalled offspring BW. Results BW in female offspring was lower only among women with high IL-1β. Although pro-inflammatory cytokines did not predict BW in male offspring, women with higher anti-inflammatory IL-10 gave birth to larger males. Women with a combination of low inflammatory (IL-6) and high anti-inflammatory (IL-10) factors (interaction p<0.104) gave birth to the largest males. Conclusion Immune factors measured outside of pregnancy predict offspring BW in these young women. Stable variation in inflammatory phenotype could impact the gestational environment of offspring, thus pointing to potential intergenerational effects of chronic low-grade inflammation.

Inflammation is associated with increased risk for chronic degenerative diseases, as well as agerelated functional declines across many systems and tissues. Current understandings of inflammation, aging, and human health are based on studies conducted almost exclusively in high income nations that rely primarily on baseline measures of chronic inflammation. This analysis investigates the inflammatory response to vaccination as a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among older women in the Philippines, a lower-middle income nation with rising rates of overweight/obesity and relatively high burdens of infectious disease. Concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured at baseline and 72 hours following influenza vaccination in 530 women (mean age = 55.2 years). Ankle-brachial index (ABI)-an indicator of peripheral arterial disease and broader CVD risk-was measured approximately three years later. The magnitude of CRP response to vaccination was positively associated with ABI, indicating that a larger inflammatory response predicts lower CVD risk. Baseline CRP was negatively associated with CRP response to vaccination, and was not associated with ABI independently of CRP response. These results suggest that research across ecological settings, and with more dynamic measures of inflammatory response and regulation, may yield important insights into the associations among inflammation, aging, and disease.

Overweight (OW) duration and diet affect glucose levels. We examined whether diet modified the effect of OW duration on fasting glucose and having impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes (IFG/DM: FG>;=110mg/dL) in 1,887 women (ages 35–68y) in the 2005 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. OW (BMI>;=25kg/m2) duration was categorized as >;=10 y (25%), < 10 y (17%), had a history but not currently OW (10%) and never OW (48%). Using factor analysis, we identified 3 diet patterns: meats/sweets, vegetables/grains, and processed seafoods. Mean FG was 99.6 mg/dL; 14% had IFG/DM. For FG, linear regression results showed significant interaction between OW duration and the meats/sweets pattern (LR test p<0.04). OW duration was not significantly associated with FG among women who consumed low meats/sweets (lowest quartile): 1.6 (−10.1, 13.2) [COEFF (95% CI)] for women OW <10 yrs and 2.6 (−10.8,15.9) for women OW >;10yrs. For women who consumed higher amounts of meats/sweets, compared to never OW women, FG was 4.5 (− 2.0,11.4) and 18.8 (11.0, 26.5) mg/dL higher for women OW < 10y and OW >;=10y, respectively. Similarly, we found increased effect of OW duration on having IFG/DM among women who consumed greater meats/sweets. Results underscore the benefit of controlling meats and sweets consumption, especially among those who have been chronically OW. R01TW008288