The relation between birth weight and insulin resistance in Korean adolescents.
Low birth weight is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in adults. The fetal programming hypothesis has shown that insulin resistance and its associated metabolic disturbances result from a poor gestational environment, for which low birth weight is a surrogate. An at-home questionnaire survey was performed on 660 middle school students (12-15 years) in Seoul, Korea, and 152 cases were randomly selected based on their birth weight. Subjects were divided into three groups according to birth weight. We recorded their birth weight and measured their current anthropometric data, blood pressure, lipid profile, HOMA-IR, and HOMA-beta, and compared these parameters among the groups. The relation of birth weight to physiological characteristics in adolescence was examined. Systolic blood pressure, lipid profiles, and fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-beta were not significantly different among the groups, but diastolic blood pressure was lower in the third tertile. Insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR were higher in the lower birth weight tertile. After adjustment for confounding factors, birth weight was inversely related to diastolic blood pressure, insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR. We conclude that low birth weight may predict the risk of the insulin resistance and its progression over age, and that adequate gestational nutrition is therefore necessary to prevent low birth weight.
Kim
Chul-Sik
CS
Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University, Kangnam-gu, Seoul 135-720, Korea.
Park
Jong-Suk
JS
Park
Jina
J
Nam
Ji-Sun
JS
Kang
Eun-Seok
ES
Ahn
Chul-Woo
CW
Cha
Bong-Soo
BS
Lim
Sung-Kil
SK
Kim
Kyung-Rae
KR
Lee
Hyun-Chul
HC
Huh
Kap-Bum
KB
Kim
Dae-Jung
DJ
D000293:Adolescent; D001724:Birth Weight; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002096:C-Peptide / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006946:Hyperinsulinism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000502:physiology; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male
D002096:C-Peptide; D007328:Insulin