The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Birth weight, weight at 1 y of age, and body composition in older men: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study

Birth weight, weight at 1 y of age, and body composition in older men: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study
Birth weight, weight at 1 y of age, and body composition in older men: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study
Background: Size in early life is related to adult body mass index, and early environmental influences have been proposed to have lifelong consequences for obesity. However, body mass index also reflects fat-free mass, and few studies have examined the relation between size in early life and direct measures of body composition in older people.
Objective: We investigated the associations of birth weight and weight at 1 y of age with body composition in older men.
Design: We carried out a retrospective cohort study in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Men who were born between 1931 and 1939 and for whom there were records of birth weight and weight at 1 y of age (n = 737) participated in the study. The main outcome measures were adult body mass index, fat-free mass, and fat mass.
Results: Birth weight was significantly and consistently positively associated with adult body mass index and fat-free mass but not with measures of adult fat mass. In contrast, weight at 1 y of age was associated with adult body mass index, fat-free mass, and fat mass.
Conclusions: The consistently reported positive relation between birth weight and adult body mass index may reflect prenatal and maternal influences on fat-free mass rather than on fat mass in older people. The postnatal environment may be more influential than prenatal factors in the development of obesity in later life.
body composition, body mass index, fat-free mass, birth weight, programming
0002-9165
199-203
Aihie-Sayer, Avan
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
Syddall, Holly E.
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Dennison, Elaine M.
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Gilbody, Helen J.
f78b5dfc-7e86-482e-b9d1-bd23e1372803
Duggleby, Sarah L.
2077aa39-da37-4932-98cb-e15a454ad6b3
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Barker, David J.
1c926291-c5bd-4f53-8827-6ae435fa97ea
Phillips, David I.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Aihie-Sayer, Avan
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
Syddall, Holly E.
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Dennison, Elaine M.
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Gilbody, Helen J.
f78b5dfc-7e86-482e-b9d1-bd23e1372803
Duggleby, Sarah L.
2077aa39-da37-4932-98cb-e15a454ad6b3
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Barker, David J.
1c926291-c5bd-4f53-8827-6ae435fa97ea
Phillips, David I.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6

Aihie-Sayer, Avan, Syddall, Holly E., Dennison, Elaine M., Gilbody, Helen J., Duggleby, Sarah L., Cooper, Cyrus, Barker, David J. and Phillips, David I. (2004) Birth weight, weight at 1 y of age, and body composition in older men: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 80 (1), 199-203.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: Size in early life is related to adult body mass index, and early environmental influences have been proposed to have lifelong consequences for obesity. However, body mass index also reflects fat-free mass, and few studies have examined the relation between size in early life and direct measures of body composition in older people.
Objective: We investigated the associations of birth weight and weight at 1 y of age with body composition in older men.
Design: We carried out a retrospective cohort study in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Men who were born between 1931 and 1939 and for whom there were records of birth weight and weight at 1 y of age (n = 737) participated in the study. The main outcome measures were adult body mass index, fat-free mass, and fat mass.
Results: Birth weight was significantly and consistently positively associated with adult body mass index and fat-free mass but not with measures of adult fat mass. In contrast, weight at 1 y of age was associated with adult body mass index, fat-free mass, and fat mass.
Conclusions: The consistently reported positive relation between birth weight and adult body mass index may reflect prenatal and maternal influences on fat-free mass rather than on fat mass in older people. The postnatal environment may be more influential than prenatal factors in the development of obesity in later life.

Text
199.pdf - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Published date: July 2004
Additional Information: Original research communication
Keywords: body composition, body mass index, fat-free mass, birth weight, programming

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25189
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25189
ISSN: 0002-9165
PURE UUID: ef4c6321-87de-416e-8a96-d6f18e0b0826
ORCID for Holly E. Syddall: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0171-0306
ORCID for Elaine M. Dennison: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3048-4961
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Apr 2006
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:48

Export record

Contributors

Author: Avan Aihie-Sayer
Author: Helen J. Gilbody
Author: Sarah L. Duggleby
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD
Author: David J. Barker
Author: David I. Phillips

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×