The Long‐term impact of intrauterine growth restriction in a diverse US cohort of children: The EPOCH study

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Md.), 2014-02, Vol.22 (2), p.608-615
• Main Authors: Crume, Tessa L., Scherzinger, Ann, Stamm, Elizabeth, McDuffie, Robert, Bischoff, Kimberly J., Hamman, Richard F., Dabelea, Dana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdominal Fat - pathology; Adiponectin - blood; Adiposity; Adolescent; Adolescent Development; Birth weight; Body Mass Index; Child; Child Development; Cohort Studies; Colorado - epidemiology; Down-Regulation; Female; Fetal Growth Retardation - blood; Fetal Growth Retardation - metabolism; Fetal Growth Retardation - pathology; Fetal Growth Retardation - physiopathology; Humans; Hyperinsulinism - epidemiology; Hyperinsulinism - etiology; Insulin Resistance; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical records; Nutrition; Obesity; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Risk; Socioeconomic factors; Waist Circumference
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X
• DOI: 10.1002/oby.20565

Objective To explore the long‐term impact of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) among a diverse, contemporary cohort of US children. Design and Methods A retrospective cohort of 42 children exposed to IUGR and 464 unexposed who were members of Kaiser Permanente of Colorado. Height and weight measurements since birth and measures of abdominal adiposity and insulin‐resistance were measured at an average age of 10.6 (±1.3) years. Results Infants born IUGR experienced “catch‐up growth” in the first 12 months of life at a rate of 3.58 kg/m2 compared to 2.36 kg/m2 in unexposed infants (P = 0.01). However, after 1 year of age, no differences in BMI growth velocity were observed. Nevertheless children exposed to IUGR had higher waist circumference (67.0 vs. 65.3 cm, P = 0.03), higher insulin (15.2 vs. 11.0 μU/ml, P = 0.0002), higher HOMA‐IR (2.8 vs. 2.3, P = 0.03), and lower adiponectin levels (9.0 vs. 12.0 μg/ml, P = 0.003) in adolescence, independent of other childhood and maternal factors. Conclusions Our data from a contemporary US cohort suggests that children exposed to IUGR have increased abdominal fat and increased insulin resistance biomarkers despite no differences in BMI growth patterns beyond 12 months of age. These data provide further support for the fetal programming hypothesis.