Low birth weight and high birth weight infants are both at an increased risk to have type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren in taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of birth weight on risk of type 2 diabetes in the schoolchildren in Taiwan.


METHODS
From 1992 to 1997, all schoolchildren aged 6-18 years were screened for diabetes in Taiwan Province. This cohort consisted of 1,966 patients with diabetes and 1,780 randomly selected subjects with normal fasting glycemia (NFG). Questionnaire interviewing was designed to classify diabetes. The birth weight was obtained from the Taiwan's Birth Registry. After merging the data, there were 978 subjects, including 429 with type 2 diabetes and 549 with of NFG enrolled in the present analyses.


RESULTS
The odds ratios (95% CI) for type 2 diabetes, after adjusting age, sex, BMI, family history of diabetes, and socioeconomic status, were 2.91 (1.25-6.76) for children with low birth weight (<2,500 g) and 1.78 (1.04-3.06) for those with high birth weight (> or =4,000 g) when compared with the referent group (birth weight 3,000-3,499 g). The risk of diabetes was still 64% higher in the high birth weight group [odds ratio (OR) 1.64 (95% CI 0.91-2.96)], even after adjustment for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Patients with type 2 diabetes who were born with high birth weight were more likely to have a higher BMI and diastolic blood pressure as well as a higher family history of diabetes compared with those with low birth weight.


CONCLUSIONS
A U-shaped relationship between birth weight and risk of type 2 diabetes was found in the schoolchildren aged 6-18 years in Taiwan. Schoolchildren with type 2 diabetes who were born with low birth weight had different metabolic phenotypes compared with those born with high birth weight.
Wei
Jung-Nan
JN
College of Public Health, School of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Sung
Fung-Chang
FC
Li
Chung-Yi
CY
Chang
Chia-Hsuin
CH
Lin
Ruey-Shiung
RS
Lin
Chau-Ching
CC
Chiang
Chuan-Chi
CC
Chuang
Lee-Ming
LM
D000293:Adolescent; D001724:Birth Weight; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D003971:Diastole; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013624:Taiwan
D001786:Blood Glucose