Prediction of adult height and risk of overweight in females born small‐for‐gestational‐age

Abstract

The risk of short adult stature in women born small-for-gestational age (SGA) was estimated in this prospective cohort study of 43 872 singleton females, born between 1973 and 1983, who gave birth to a child between 1989 and 1999. The risk of overweight in females born SGA, with and without short adult stature, was also studied. All data on birth characteristics and adult height and weight were obtained from the Swedish Birth Register. SGA-born females were divided into being born short only for gestational age [birth length < -2 standard deviation scores (SDS)], born light for gestational age (birthweight < -2 SDS) or being born both short and light for gestational age. Short adult stature was defined as adult height below -2 SDS. Among females, being born SGA (<-2 SDS in birth length or birthweight) was associated with increased risk of short adult stature, compared with being born appropriate for gestational age. The risk varied substantially within different subgroups of females born SGA: being born short for gestational age was associated with an almost fivefold increased risk [odds ratio (OR) 4.89; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.70, 6.47] of short adult stature, whereas being born light for gestational age was associated with an almost twofold increased risk [OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.43, 2.65]. Overall, females born SGA did not have increased risk of overweight compared with females with appropriate size at birth. However, among females born short for gestational age, short adult stature was associated with an increased risk of overweight in adulthood [OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.01, 3.12]. In conclusion, among females born SGA, of the birth characteristics, short birth length is associated with the highest increased risk of short adult stature. Spontaneous growth in height to normal adult stature reduced the risk of overweight in females born short for gestational age.

Size at Birth and Gestational Age as Predictors of Adult Height and Weight

“…6,7,9,10,12 Ponderal index is an expression of body weight relative to length; however, it does not differentiate between long and heavy versus short and thin. Although indices might be useful, their application could lead to a loss of important information about the relative contributions of length and weight as predictors of final height and weight.…”

“…Previous studies have had limited ability to explore the effects of preterm delivery as a result of small sample sizes and thus few preterm infants. [7][8][9] Most previous studies have focused on the effects on adult size of being small-for-gestational age 6,7,9,10,12 or of various indices of birth length and weight. However, these are composite measures that do not take advantage of the full variation of the initial registrations of birth weight and length and of gestational age.…”

Prevalência de obesidade em crianças de uma escola pública e de um ambulatório geral de Pediatria de hospital universitário

“…O US Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS) evidenciou que crianças com baixo peso ao nascer possuíam maior risco relativo de permanecerem obesas em idade pré-escolar, após terem se tornado obesas nos dois primeiros anos de vida, quando comparadas a crianças que já apresentavam peso normal ou elevado ao nascer (8) . Uma hipótese para explicar tal fato seria o catch-up growth, que consiste no crescimento rápido pós-natal, recuperando o peso e a altura da criança, o que resultaria em obesidade infantil -a qual permanece na adolescência e na idade adulta e tem sido relacionada ao maior risco de desenvolvimento de diabetes tipo 2 (9)(10)(11) . Segundo o Consenso Latino-Americano em Obesidade, a situação emergente da obesidade nos países em desenvolvimento é particularmente crítica e afeta não somente os grupos economicamente favorecidos, mas também os menos favorecidos.…”

Summary of the Presentations at the Conference on Preventing Childhood Obesity, December 8, 2003

“…49 Women who were born SGA (z scores of less than Ϫ2) had a slightly reduced (not statistically significant) chance of having a BMI of Ն25 when they became childbearers 20 to 30 years later, with an adjusted OR of 0.9 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.8-1.1). There was, however, a statistically significant increased risk (adjusted OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.5-2.1) of having a BMI of Ն25 during pregnancy among women who were born LGA (z scores of more than ϩ2).…”