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Growth and living conditions in childhood and hypertension in adult life: a longitudinal study

Growth and living conditions in childhood and hypertension in adult life: a longitudinal study
Growth and living conditions in childhood and hypertension in adult life: a longitudinal study
Objectives : To examine the interplay between childhood growth and living conditions in the development of hypertension.
Design : A longitudinal study of people whose growth between birth and 12 years, and social circumstances during childhood and adult life, were recorded.
Setting : Helsinki, Finland.
Participants : Eight thousand seven hundred and sixty men and women born in Helsinki University Central Hospital during 1934-44, who attended child welfare clinics in the city and were still resident in Finland in 1971.
Main outcome measures : Incidence of hypertension defined by prescription of medication.
Results : The 1404 children who later developed hypertension grew differently to other children. Low birthweight and shortness or thinness at birth were followed by rapid compensatory growth in weight and height, and an above-average body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) from the age of 8 years onwards. Some 25% of children with low birthweight but high BMI at 12 years subsequently developed hypertension, compared to 9% of those with high birthweight but low BMI. Growth had large effects on the risk of later hypertension in children living in poor social conditions, but only small effects in children in good living conditions. Living conditions in adult life did not affect the risk of hypertension.
Conclusions : Hypertension originates in slow fetal growth followed by rapid compensatory growth in childhood. This path of growth has a greater effect on the risk of disease among children who live in poor social conditions. Living conditions in adult life do not seem to be important.
0263-6352
1951-1956
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Forsen, Tom
77245dbe-fc1f-4e6f-a2bb-6f1a77918cd2
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Forsen, Tom
77245dbe-fc1f-4e6f-a2bb-6f1a77918cd2
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81

Barker, David J.P., Forsen, Tom, Eriksson, Johan G. and Osmond, Clive (2002) Growth and living conditions in childhood and hypertension in adult life: a longitudinal study. Journal of Hypertension, 20 (10), 1951-1956.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives : To examine the interplay between childhood growth and living conditions in the development of hypertension.
Design : A longitudinal study of people whose growth between birth and 12 years, and social circumstances during childhood and adult life, were recorded.
Setting : Helsinki, Finland.
Participants : Eight thousand seven hundred and sixty men and women born in Helsinki University Central Hospital during 1934-44, who attended child welfare clinics in the city and were still resident in Finland in 1971.
Main outcome measures : Incidence of hypertension defined by prescription of medication.
Results : The 1404 children who later developed hypertension grew differently to other children. Low birthweight and shortness or thinness at birth were followed by rapid compensatory growth in weight and height, and an above-average body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) from the age of 8 years onwards. Some 25% of children with low birthweight but high BMI at 12 years subsequently developed hypertension, compared to 9% of those with high birthweight but low BMI. Growth had large effects on the risk of later hypertension in children living in poor social conditions, but only small effects in children in good living conditions. Living conditions in adult life did not affect the risk of hypertension.
Conclusions : Hypertension originates in slow fetal growth followed by rapid compensatory growth in childhood. This path of growth has a greater effect on the risk of disease among children who live in poor social conditions. Living conditions in adult life do not seem to be important.

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More information

Published date: October 2002

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25228
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25228
ISSN: 0263-6352
PURE UUID: 4d33323c-2f22-4e92-a759-867f294ea49c
ORCID for Clive Osmond: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9054-4655

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 07 Apr 2006
Last modified: 02 Jun 2022 01:35

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Contributors

Author: David J.P. Barker
Author: Tom Forsen
Author: Johan G. Eriksson
Author: Clive Osmond ORCID iD

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