Childhood underweight, weight gain during childhood to adolescence/young adulthood and incidence of adult metabolic syndrome in the SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) Project

• Published in: Public health nutrition 2011-07, Vol.14 (7), p.1237-1244
• Main Authors: Pimenta, Adriano M, Beunza, Juan-José, Sanchez-Villegas, Almudena, Bes-Rastrollo, Maira, Martinez-Gonzalez, Miguel A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquisitions & mergers; adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; adulthood; adults; Biological and behavioural determinants; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Child; Child development; Child, Preschool; childhood; childhood obesity; Chronic illnesses; Cohort Studies; confidence interval; Diabetes; Diet; Family medical history; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Glucose; Heart attacks; Humans; Hypertension; image analysis; Incidence; Insulin resistance; Male; men; Mens health; Metabolic disorders; metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; Metabolic Syndrome - etiology; Obesity - complications; Obesity - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Overweight - complications; Overweight - epidemiology; Prospective Studies; Questionnaires; Self image; Sex Factors; Spain - epidemiology; Thinness; underweight; weight gain; Weight Gain - physiology; women; Womens health; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980010003009

Objective To assess associations between childhood body weight, weight gain during childhood to adolescence/young adulthood and incidence of adult metabolic syndrome (MetS). Design A dynamic prospective cohort study (the SUN Project; Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra). Participants were asked to select which of nine body images most closely represented their body shape at ages 5 and 20 years, and it was used as a proxy of BMI. An incident case of MetS was diagnosed according to criteria of the International Diabetes Federation. Associations between childhood body weight, weight gain during childhood to adolescence/young adulthood and incidence of adult MetS were estimated by multiple-adjusted odds ratios and their 95 % confidence intervals. Setting University of Navarra, Spain. Subjects The study included 5317 university graduates, followed-up for a median of 6·1 years. Results The incidence of MetS was 2·9 % (1·7 % in women and 5·1 % in men). Among men, body shape at age 5 years was inversely related to adult MetS (OR = 0·83, 95 % CI 0·72, 0·97), whereas weight gain during childhood to adolescence/young adulthood was directly associated with adult MetS (OR = 1·49, 95 % CI 1·01, 2·18); both childhood underweight (OR = 5·20, 95 % CI 1·87, 14·50) and childhood obesity (OR = 4·66, 95 % CI 1·40, 15·51) increased the likelihood of adult MetS. No association was apparent among women. Conclusions These results support treating childhood underweight and weight gain during childhood to adolescence/young adulthood as part of comprehensive adult MetS prevention efforts in men.