Birth Weight and Overweight in Adolescents: The Erica Project in the City of Recife, Pernambuco

Abstract

Objective: To verify the association of anthropometric parameters at birth, socioeconomic and biological variables, physical activity, and parental nutritional status with overweight and abdominal obesity in adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 39 public and private schools in Recife (state of Pernambuco, Brazil). The sample consisted of 1,081 teenagers aged from 12 to 17 years. Data were collected from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA). Body mass index according to age (BMI-for-age), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) were considered as outcome variables, whereas the explanatory variables were birth weight, Röhrer’s Ponderal Index (RPI), biological and socioeconomic variables, physical activity, and parental nutritional status. The crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) for the studied association were estimated by Poisson Regression. Results: The multivariate Poisson regression showed that the variable that remained significantly associated with overweight in adolescence was maternal overweight, PR=1.86 (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.09-3.17). High birth weight also remained significantly associated with abdominal obesity assessed by WC, PR=3.25 (95%CI 1.0-9.74). Conclusions: High birth weight may be a marker for abdominal obesity in adolescence; and high maternal BMI, for overweight.

The Combined Effect of Birth Weight and Lifestyle on Clustered Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors in Children and Adolescents: A National School-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

“…A decrease in the number of nephrons could lead to compensatory hypertrophy, associated intraglomerular hypertension could then lead to glomerulosclerosis and hypertension within years [ 59 , 60 ]. In addition, HBW was confirmed to be associated with a higher risk of abdominal obesity in children and adolescents, which was consistent with the results of multiple other studies [ 61 , 62 ]. Early identification of abnormal birth weight children at health risk and the feasible prevention of CMRFs through lifestyle intervention are of great public health significance for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.…”

The Relationship between Birth Weight and the Risk of Overweight and Obesity among Chinese Children and Adolescents Aged 7–17 Years

“…According to the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis, an inadequate prenatal environment during fetal life is more prone to obesity and related outcomes later in life [ 14 ]. In this context, birth weight could be one key reaction to the nutrition status of fetuses, and a large number of studies have demonstrated that the influence of birth weight could persist into later life [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. For instance, birth weight might be directly related to body mass index (BMI), which is known to be strongly associated with health outcomes [ 16 , 21 ].…”