title: Childhood obesity as a risk factor in adulthood and its prevention.
abstract: Investigation of the relationship between relative body mass (RBM) of women immediately upon giving birth and birth weight (BW) of newborns showed that variables are positively correlated (r = 0.56, P less than 0.05). Data on distributions of adult RBM and BW show that it is more likely that children with a BW greater than or equal to 4.5 kg will become obese in a later stage of life than those whose BW was less than or equal to 3.2 kg. The regression lines in a group of children indicated a positive correlation between RBM and glycemia (r = 0.30, P less than 0.01), cholesterolemia (r = 0.223, P less than 0.05), and triglyceridemia (r = 0.239, P less than 0.05). After the same duration of dieting, those adults who became obese in early childhood lost as much from their initial body mass and fat as those who became obese in adulthood. A reducing diet produced a decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both groups, but was significant only in the latter. Therefore, the prevention of obesity and its consequences should begin in the intrauterine stage and be continued through early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood with dietary measures and increased physical activity.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000209:etiology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D012306:Risk