TUESDAY, March 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Low birth weight combined with overweight at age 20 years is associated with an increased risk for early type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online Feb. 22 in Diabetologia. The results will also be presented at the annual European Congress on Obesity, to be held from May 12 to 15 in Venice, Italy.
Jimmy Célind, M.D., from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues examined the relative contributions of low birth weight and overweight during childhood and young adulthood to the risk for type 2 diabetes in men. A total of 34,321 men born between 1945 and 1961 with data on birth weight and overweight status in childhood and young adulthood (ages 8 and 20 years, respectively) were included. Participants were followed from age 30 years through Dec. 31, 2019.
The researchers found that 2,733 cases of type 2 diabetes were diagnosed during follow-up. An increased risk for early and late type 2 diabetes was seen in association with birth weight below the median (<3.6 kg) and overweight at age 20 years (body mass index, >25 kg/m2), but not overweight at age 8 years (body mass index, >17.9 kg/m2). A substantially increased risk for early type 2 diabetes was seen in association with a birth weight below the median and overweight at age 20 years (hazard ratio, 6.07); the risk for early type 2 diabetes was further increased with low birth weight (≤2.5 kg) combined with overweight at age 20 years (hazard ratio, 9.94).
"Our findings establish low birth weight and overweight in young adulthood as the main developmental determinants, whereas overweight in childhood is of lesser importance for type 2 diabetes in adult men," Célind said in a statement.
The study was partly funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
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