Weight status change from birth to childhood and high carotid intima-media thickness in childhood.

BACKGROUND

High birth weight or childhood overweight increases the risk of high carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in childhood. However, no studies have assessed the association between change in weight status from birth to childhood and cIMT in childhood.

OBJECTIVES

We examined the association between weight status change from birth to childhood and cIMT in childhood based on a population-based study of Chinese children.

METHODS

Data were from the Huantai Childhood Cardiovascular Health Cohort Study. A total of 1307 primary school children aged 6-11 years were included. Children were categorized into four groups based on their weight status at birth and at childhood: persistently normal weight, weight loss, weight gain, and persistently high weight.

RESULTS

Compared with children with persistently normal weight from birth to childhood, those with weight gain (odds ratio [OR] = 6.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.36-10.76) and persistently high weight (OR = 5.78, 95% CI = 2.60-12.82) had increased odds of high cIMT in childhood. In contrast, children who had high birth weight but became normal weight in childhood did not have significantly increased odds of high cIMT in childhood (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 0.28-5.67).

CONCLUSIONS

Overweight in childhood was associated with increased odds of high cIMT irrespective of birth weight status. The odds of high cIMT in childhood could be reversed if newborn with high birth weight become normal weight in childhood.