title: Exposure to famine in early life and the risk of obesity in adulthood in Qingdao: Evidence from the 1959-1961 Chinese famine.
abstract: We aimed to evaluate the association between famine exposure during early life and obesity and obesitymax(obese at the highest weight) in adulthood.
  
  
  
  Data were from two population-based cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2006 and 2009 in Qingdao, China. A total of 8185 subjects born between 1/1/1941 and 12/31/1971 were categorized into unexposed (born between 01/01/1962 and 12/31/1971), fetal/infant exposed (born between 01/01/1959 and 12/31/1961), childhood exposed (born between 01/01/1949 and 12/31/1958) and adolescence exposed (born between 01/01/1941 and 12/31/1948) according to their age when exposed to the Chinese famine from 1959 to 1961. Obesity was defined as BMI (body mass index) ≥28.0 and obesitymaxwas defined as BMImax(BMI at the highest weight) ≥28.0. We compared fetal/infant exposed, childhood exposed and adolescence exposed to the unexposed using logistic regression models to assess the effect of famine exposure on later obesity and obesitymax. Fetal/infant exposed (OR = 1.59, P < 0.001), childhood exposed (OR = 1.42, P < 0.01) and adolescence exposed (OR = 1.86, P < 0.01) all had higher risks of obesity than the unexposed. Exposure groups were more likely to be obese at their highest weight than the unexposed, and ORs (95%CIs) for obesitymaxin the fetal/infant exposed, childhood exposed and adolescence exposed were 1.49(1.20-1.86), 1.24(1.02-1.49) and 1.64 (1.40-1.93), respectively. Similar results were found in both men and women.
  
  
  
  Exposure to famine in early life was associated with increased risks of obesity and obesitymaxin adulthood. Preventing undernutrition in early life appears beneficial to reduce the prevalence of later obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao 266021, Shandong Province, China; Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao 266033, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao 266021, Shandong Province, China; Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao 266033, Shandong Province, China. Electronic address: 15726227711@163.com.
authors.forename: Z C
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao 266033, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao 266033, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao 266033, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao 266033, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qiao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013217:Starvation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Adulthood; Early life; Famine exposure; Obesity