title: Birth weight and carotid artery intima-media thickness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the association between birth weight and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), a measure of atherogenesis, in a population of 11-year-old children.
  
  
  METHODS
  CIMT measured by high-resolution ultrasound, and birth registry data were available for 670 children of the Southern California Children's Health Study. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between birth weight and CIMT, with adjustment for child's health status and lifestyle, pregnancy information, and parental health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean CIMT was 0.57 mm (SD 0.04). We found a nonlinear association between birth weight and CIMT, with an increase in CIMT of 0.014 mm in the fifth (P value .01) compared with the third birth weight quintile. These associations were robust in subsample analyses in children considered normal-weight by gestational age or in term-born children. No significant association with CIMT was found for the lowest quintile.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greater birth weight was significantly associated with increased CIMT at age 11 years. No evidence for an impact of lower birth weight was found. The predictive value of childhood CIMT on future cardiovascular outcomes is largely unknown, but strong associations between childhood cardiovascular disease risk factors and adult vascular disease suggest that increased CIMT in childhood may be clinically important.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Julia.Dratva@unibas.ch
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dratva
authors.forename: Carrie V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Breton
authors.forename: Howard N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Hodis
authors.forename: Wendy J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.forename: Muhammad T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Salam
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zemp
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gilliland
authors.forename: Nino
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuenzli
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Avol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001724:Birth Weight; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires