Weight Gain and Height Growth during Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence as Predictors of Adult Cardiovascular Risk.
To investigate independent relationships of childhood linear growth (height gain) and relative weight gain to adult cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk traits in Asian Indians.



Data from 2218 adults from the Vellore Birth Cohort were examined for associations of cross-sectional height and body mass index (BMI) and longitudinal growth (independent conditional measures of height and weight gain) in infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood with adult waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]), and plasma glucose and lipid concentrations.



Higher BMI/greater conditional relative weight gain at all ages was associated with higher adult WC, after 3 months with higher adult BP, HOMA-IR, and lipids, and after 15 years with higher glucose concentrations. Taller adult height was associated with higher WC (men β = 2.32 cm per SD, women β = 1.63, both P < .001), BP (men β = 2.10 mm Hg per SD, women β = 1.21, both P ≤ .001), and HOMA-IR (men β = 0.08 log units per SD, women β = 0.12, both P ≤ .05) but lower glucose concentrations (women β = -0.03 log mmol/L per SD P = .003). Greater height or height gain at all earlier ages were associated with higher adult CVD risk traits. These positive associations were attenuated when adjusted for adult BMI and height. Shorter length and lower BMI at birth were associated with higher glucose concentration in women.



Greater height or weight gain relative to height during childhood or adolescence was associated with a more adverse adult CVD risk marker profile, and this was mostly attributable to larger adult size.
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
Belavendra
B
Antonisamy
Oxford Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. Electronic address: senthil.vasan@ocdem.ox.ac.uk.
Senthil K
SK
Vasan
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
Finney S
FS
Geethanjali
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
Mahasampath
M
Gowri
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
Y S
YS
Hepsy
Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
Joseph
J
Richard
Department of Child Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
P
P
Raghupathy
Oxford Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Fredrik
F
Karpe
Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Clive
C
Osmond
Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Caroline H D
CH
Fall
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult
Asian Indians; cardiovascular risk markers; children; conditional growth analysis; height gain; weight gain