Prenatal and childhood growth, and hospitalization for alcohol use disorders in adulthood: the Helsinki birth cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Small birth size - an indicator of a sub-optimal prenatal environment - and variation in growth after birth have been associated with non-communicable diseases in later life. We tested whether birth size or growth in childhood associated with the risk of hospital admission for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) from early to late adulthood.


METHODS
The sample comprised 6544 men and 6050 women born between 1934 and 1944 in Helsinki, Finland. Data on anthropometric measures were extracted from medical records and diagnoses of AUD from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and Causes of Death Register covering a 40-year period from 1969 to 2008.


RESULTS
Altogether 171 women (2.8%) and 657 men (10.0%) were diagnosed at a hospital with AUD. After adjusting for major confounders, shorter length at birth, shorter height up to two years of age, and lower weight at two years associated with hospitalization for AUD in women. In men, slower growth in height, particularly from 2 to 7 years, and slower weight gain from 7 to 11 years as well as shorter height and lower weight at 7 and 11 years associated with a diagnosis of AUD in men.


CONCLUSIONS
Pre- and postnatal growth associates with the risk for AUD later in life differently in women than in men: the fetal period and infancy seem to be the sensitive periods for women, whereas those for men the occur from toddlerhood onwards.
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Jari
J
Lahti
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Marius
M
Lahti
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Anu-Katriina
AK
Pesonen
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Kati
K
Heinonen
National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Eero
E
Kajantie
National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Tom
T
Forsén
National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Kristian
K
Wahlbeck
Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
Clive
C
Osmond
Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
David J P
DJ
Barker
National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland ; Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki.
Johan G
JG
Eriksson
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Katri
K
Räikkönen
D000368:Aged; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors