Infant nutrition and blood pressure in early adulthood: the Barry Caerphilly Growth study.
BACKGROUND
Evidence suggests that environmental factors acting early in life may affect blood pressure in adulthood.


OBJECTIVE
The objective was to test the hypothesis that dried formula milk (derived from cow milk) intake in infancy is positively associated with blood pressure in early adulthood.


METHODS
We conducted a long-term follow-up (1997-1999) of the Barry Caerphilly Growth study cohort (1972-1974) into which mothers and their offspring had originally been randomly assigned to receive a milk supplement or usual care. Participants were the offspring, who were aged 23-27 y at follow-up. The main outcome measures were systolic and diastolic blood pressure.


RESULTS
The social and demographic characteristics of the subjects who were (n = 679) and were not (n = 272) followed up were similar. For each increase in quartile of dried milk consumption (in oz) at 3 mo of age, there was a 1.28-mm Hg (95% CI: 0.46, 2.10 mm Hg) increase in systolic and a 0.63-mm Hg (95% CI: 0.04, 1.22 mm Hg) increase in diastolic blood pressure after adjustment for sex, intervention group, birth weight z scores, social class in childhood, age at follow-up, alcohol consumption, and pack-years of smoking. These coefficients were attenuated when adult body mass index and height were included in the models, but the association of dried milk consumption at 3 mo of age with systolic pressure remained significant (1.07 mm Hg; 95% CI: 0.27, 1.87 mm Hg).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that high blood pressure in later life is influenced by early postnatal nutrition. Thus, interventions to optimize infant nutrition may have important long-term health benefits.
Martin
Richard M
RM
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, United Kingdom. richard.martin@bristol.ac.uk
McCarthy
Anne
A
Smith
George Davey
GD
Davies
David P
DP
Ben-Shlomo
Yoav
Y
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk