title: Impact of early growth on postprandial responses in later life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low birth weight and slow growth during infancy are associated with increased rates of chronic diseases in adulthood. Associations with risk factors such as fasting glucose and lipids concentrations are weaker than expected based on associations with disease. This could be explained by differences in postprandial responses, which, however, have been little studied. Our aim was to examine the impact of growth during infancy on postprandial responses to a fast-food meal (FF-meal) and a meal, which followed the macro-nutrient composition of the dietary guidelines (REC-meal).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We recruited 24 overweight 65-75 year-old subjects, 12 with slow growth during infancy (SGI-group) and 12 with normal early growth. All the subjects were born at term. The study meals were isocaloric and both meals were consumed once. Plasma glucose, insulin, triglycerides (TG) and free fatty acids (FFA) were measured in fasting state and over a 4-h period after both meals. Subjects who grew slowly during infancy were also smaller at birth. Fasting glucose, insulin or lipid concentrations did not differ significantly between the groups. The TG responses were higher for the SGI-group both during the FF-meal (P = 0.047) and the REC-meal (P = 0.058). The insulin responses were significantly higher for the SGI-group after the FF-meal (P = 0.036). Glucose and FFA responses did not differ significantly between the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Small birth size and slow early growth predict postprandial TG and insulin responses. Elevated responses might be one explanation why subjects who were small at birth and experiencing slow growth in infancy are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases in later life.
authors: Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, The National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. mia.perala@thl.fi
authors: Mia-Maria
authors: MM
authors: Perälä
authors: Liisa M
authors: LM
authors: Valsta
authors: Eero
authors: E
authors: Kajantie
authors: Jaana
authors: J
authors: Leiviskä
authors: Johan G
authors: JG
authors: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood; D019518:Postprandial Period / Q000502:physiology*; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D007328:Insulin; D014280:Triglycerides