Differential association of birth weight with cardiovascular risk variables in African-Americans and Whites: the Bogalusa heart study.
OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship between low birth weight and the subsequent development of cardiovascular risk factors and to compare this relationship between African-Americans and whites at 7 to 21 years of age.


METHODS
The relationship of birth weight with cardiovascular risk factors, namely, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), BMI, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and HOMA insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was examined retrospectively using information on 1155 participants (730 whites and 425 African-Americans) from two cohorts of the Bogalusa Heart Study.


RESULTS
Participants with lower birth weight had higher systolic BP, HOMA-IR, triglycerides, and LDL. The association of birth weight with LDL, triglycerides, and HOMA-IR was stronger in African-Americans, while the association with systolic BP was stronger in whites. Subjects with birth weight <2500 g were at increased risk of having values of HOMA-IR and LDL in the upper quartile of the observed range compared with those with birth weight >2500 g.


CONCLUSIONS
These results support a relationship between low birth weight and the later development of important cardiovascular risk factors in young African-Americans and white individuals. This relationship tends to be stronger in African-Americans than in whites, except for systolic blood pressure.
Mzayek
Fawaz
F
Tulane Center for Cardiovascular Health and Department of Epidemiology, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Sherwin
Roger
R
Fonseca
Vivian
V
Valdez
Rodolfo
R
Srinivasan
Sathanur R
SR
Cruickshank
J Kennedy
JK
Berenson
Gerald S
GS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017668:Age of Onset; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D008055:Lipids