Lifecourse weight patterns and adult-onset diabetes: the Glasgow Alumni and British Women's Heart and Health studies

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between body weight measures across the lifecourse and the risk of adult-onset diabetes. Methods: We analysed data from the Glasgow Alumni Cohort and the British Women's Heart and Health Study (BWHHS). The former included 5571 men and women who had height and weight measured at university, and reported birthweight, mid-and later-life weight in a postal questionnaire. The BWHHS analysis included 4280 women who had height and weight measured in later adulthood and recalled their birthweight and early adult height and weight. Adult-onset diabetes was defined as doctordiagnosed disease after age 30, either self-reported or abstracted from medical records. Results: Thirty nine women and 209 men (Glasgow Alumni study) and 314 women (BWHHS) had diabetes. Those with diabetes had lower mean birthweight than those without, although the differences were small. Individuals with diabetes were also shorter and heavier at all ages than those without diabetes. Being overweight during at least one time period in adult life was associated with an increased risk of diabetes, compared to those who were never overweight. While there was no age at which being overweight was particularly detrimental, the risk associated with being overweight was cumulative across the lifecourse. Conclusions: Being overweight at any point during life is associated with an increased risk of adult-onset diabetes. The cumulative nature of this association reinforces the need to prevent the development of excess weight at an early age to reduce diabetes prevalence in coming decades.

Changes of cardiovascular risk factors and their implications in subsequent birth cohorts of older adults in Germany: a life course approach

“…Jeffreys et al [23] found a moderate agreement (k = 0.41) between measured weight and recalled weight four decades later. Agreement was better for women than for men.…”

Pre-pregnancy weight change and incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus: A finding from a prospective cohort study

“…Although evidence of a causal relationship is scarce, in a meta-analysis of observational studies, the risk of development of GDM ranged from a two-to fivefold increase for women who were overweight and severely obese prior to pregnancy, respectively [6]. A number of studies [7][8][9][10] have also showed that weight gain over the life course has substantial effect on the development of diabetes and other cardiovascular risks in non-pregnant women and men.…”

Influence of birth weight and adult body composition on 17β-estradiol levels in young women

“…Additionally, insulin resistance and elevated serum steroid levels often coexist because of insulin up-regulation of ovarian steroid secretion (39). Low birth weight, thinness at 2 years of age and an increase in BMI after the age of 2 have been observed to be associated with development of insulin resistance in later life (40), (41), (42) underlining the importance of birth size as a risk factor for insulin resistance and other chronic diseases. Our study supports these findings by showing a significant relationship (p = 0.02) between tertiles of birth weight and serum insulin levels.…”