Associations Between Fetal Growth and Self-Perceived Health Throughout Adulthood: A Co-twin Control Study

Abstract

The literature shows evidence for long-lasting effects of low birth weight (LBW) on many health outcomes, but little is known about effects on self-perceived health. Findings are mixed and studies are small, mostly focusing on LBW effects on health outcomes before adulthood. Further, as LBW and most health conditions including self-perceived health are partly heritable, associations between birth weight (BW) and adverse health outcomes may also be due to shared genetic as well as other (pre- and postnatal) unmeasured environmental influences. We explored LBW effects on self-perceived health in early and later adulthood using a very large and genetically informative sample of more than 50,000 Swedish twins. In addition, analyses within twin pairs (the co-twin control design) were used to examine potential associations between BW and the offspring’s risk for poor self-perceived health independent of shared environmental or genetic factors, evidence which is critical for the understanding of underlying mechanisms. Results showed that lower BW was significantly associated with poorer self-perceived health during adulthood, although the effect size was small. Co-twin control analyses suggested that this increased risk may be due to shared underlying liability (environmental or genetic) rather than a direct effect of BW, but findings were not conclusive.

Additive drug-specific and sex-specific risks associated with co-use of marijuana and tobacco during pregnancy: Evidence from 3 recent developmental cohorts (2003–2015)

“…Third, birth weight and its maternal and child correlates are partially heritable. Quasi-experimental approaches such as genetically-in-formed designs and within-individual designs could provide more robust controls for individual-level confounders (Mosing et al, 2016). Indeed, many unmeasured influences other than marijuana that could have influenced birth weight (Knopik et al, 2016).…”

The Importance of the Prenatal Environment in Behavioral Genetics: Introduction to Special Issue

“…This report found that only a shorter gestational age was associated with increased maternal age after controlling for shared familial factors. Mosing et al (2016) used a co-twin control study to examine the longlasting effects of low birth weight on self-perceived health in early and later adulthood. This study is consistent with a growing literature linking early risk factors from prenatal to early childhood on adult and aging outcomes.…”

Prevalência e fatores associados à autopercepção negativa de saúde em adolescentes da região Norte do Brasil

“…A autopercepção de saúde é um importante constructo psicossocial que possui capacidade preditiva de mortalidade futura, frequentemente associada com desfechos em saúde [1][2][3][4][5] . Por meio de uma única questão 5 , o entrevistado fornece relevantes informações sobre seu status de salubridade, projetando sua visão de bem-estar, considerando aspectos físicos e psicossociais 3 .…”

“…Por meio de uma única questão 5 , o entrevistado fornece relevantes informações sobre seu status de salubridade, projetando sua visão de bem-estar, considerando aspectos físicos e psicossociais 3 . Os aspectos comportamentais, no entanto, são levados em consideração com menor frequência e, quando a autopercepção de saúde é relatada de forma negativa, tende a refletir comportamentos de riscos à saúde adotados no estilo de vida [5][6][7][8] .…”

“…Nesse sentido, a adolescência, em particular, tem chamado a atenção de pesquisadores em todo o mundo [3][4][9][10] , incluindo no Brasil 2,[11][12] , os quais têm focado na identificação de quais comportamentos de risco adotados por esse público estão associados à autopercepção negativa de saúde. A prática de atividade física, especialmente, tem sido o alvo de diversas investigações 4,7,[9][10] , e, no Brasil, pesquisadores têm destacado que o corpo de evidências disponíveis não permite ainda afirmar que a associação entre a autopercepção negativa de saúde e a prática insuficiente de atividade física ocorre, igualmente, como entre aqueles de outros países 7 .…”