Type 1 diabetes: increased height and weight gains in early childhood.
OBJECTIVE
The accelerator/beta-cell stress hypothesis regards insulin resistance as one common basis for type 1 and type 2 diabetes and weight increase as an important trigger of type 1 diabetes. To test this hypothesis, we examined children's height and weight gain from birth to the time of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.


METHODS
Growth charts (n = 316) from children 0-16 yr old up to the time of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes were compared with growth charts from age- and sex-matched controls.


RESULTS
Compared with their controls, children who developed diabetes had experienced more pronounced gain in both weight and height. In the year of diagnosis, they were taller [0.5 vs. 0.36 standard deviation score (SDS), p < 0.03] and heavier (0.7 vs. 0.45 SDS, p < 0.01). Children who developed diabetes aged 5 yr or less gained more weight during the period between their third month and third year of life (p < 0.01). Children who were diagnosed between 6 and 10 yr of age had gained more in height before they were 5 yr old (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that a high weight or a high body mass index (BMI) at 5 yr of age indicated, more than the other measurements, a high risk for diabetes later during childhood, while height and weight at ages less than 5 yr did not add any further information on diabetes risk.


CONCLUSIONS
Rapid growth before 7 yr of age and increased BMI in childhood are risk factors for later type 1 diabetes. These findings support the accelerator/beta-cell stress hypothesis.
Ljungkrantz
Magnus
M
Department of Paediatrics, Blekingesjukhuset, Karlskrona, Sweden.
Ludvigsson
Johnny
J
Samuelsson
Ulf
U
D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006128:Growth / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013548:Sweden; D015430:Weight Gain
D007328:Insulin