Low birth weight, family history of diabetes, and glucose intolerance in Swedish middle-aged men.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between low birth weight and glucose intolerance in relation to family history of diabetes.


METHODS
We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of 2,237 men born in 1938-1957 in four municipalities in the outskirts of Stockholm, 50% of whom had a family history of diabetes (at least one first-degree or two second-degree relatives with diabetes). Oral glucose tolerance testing detected 35 cases of type 2 diabetes, 102 cases of impaired glucose tolerance, and 57 cases of impaired fasting glucose.


RESULTS
In subjects without a family history of diabetes, low (< or = 3,000 g) birth weight was associated with an odds ratio of 2.3 (95% confidence intervals = 0.4-14.4) for diabetes, 1.8 (0.7-4.3) for impaired glucose tolerance, and 3.3 (1.0-10.4) for impaired fasting glucose. In subjects with a family history of diabetes, the corresponding figures were approximately similar, except for diabetes, for which the odds ratio was 5.4 (2.0-14.9). For men with low birth weight in combination with a family history of diabetes, the odds ratio was 10.9 (2.9-41.2) for diabetes, 2.4 (1.1-5.6) for impaired glucose tolerance, and 5.9 (2.1-16.3) for impaired fasting glucose.


CONCLUSIONS
This study indicated that low birth weight is associated with type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and impaired fasting glucose in men. This finding was most pronounced in subjects with diabetes in the family, but it was also indicated in those without a family history of diabetes. Men with the combination of low birth weight and family history of diabetes seem to be at particularly high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Carlsson
S
S
Division of Epidemiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. sofia.carlsson@imm.ki.se
Persson
P G
PG
Alvarsson
M
M
Efendic
S
S
Norman
A
A
Svanström
L
L
Ostenson
C G
CG
Grill
V
V
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000235:genetics*; D005215:Fasting; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology