Yonsei Med J.  2006 Feb;47(1):85-92. 10.3349/ymj.2006.47.1.85.

The Relation between Birth Weight and Insulin Resistance in Korean Adolescents

• Kim CS
• Park JS
• Park J
• Nam JS
• Kang ES
• Ahn CW
• Cha BS
• Lim SK
• Kim KR
• Lee HC
• Huh KB
• Kim DJ

• KMID: 1715877
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2006.47.1.85

Abstract

Low birth weight is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in adults. The fetal programming hypothesis has shown that insulin resistance and its associated metabolic disturbances result from a poor gestational environment, for which low birth weight is a surrogate. An at-home questionnaire survey was performed on 660 middle school students (12-15 years) in Seoul, Korea, and 152 cases were randomly selected based on their birth weight. Subjects were divided into three groups according to birth weight. We recorded their birth weight and measured their current anthropometric data, blood pressure, lipid profile, HOMA-IR, and HOMA-beta, and compared these parameters among the groups. The relation of birth weight to physiological characteristics in adolescence was examined. Systolic blood pressure, lipid profiles, and fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-beta were not significantly different among the groups, but diastolic blood pressure was lower in the third tertile. Insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR were higher in the lower birth weight tertile. After adjustment for confounding factors, birth weight was inversely related to diastolic blood pressure, insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR. We conclude that low birth weight may predict the risk of the insulin resistance and its progression over age, and that adequate gestational nutrition is therefore necessary to prevent low birth weight.

Keyword

Birth weight; insulin resistance; adolescence

MeSH Terms

Male
Korea/epidemiology
Insulin-Secreting Cells/physiology
*Insulin Resistance
Insulin/blood
Hyperinsulinism/epidemiology/etiology/metabolism
Humans
Female
Child
C-Peptide/blood
Blood Pressure
*Birth Weight
Adolescent

Reference

1. Barker DJ, Hales CN, Fall CH, Osmond C, Phipps K, Clark PM. Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia (syndrome X): relation to reduced fetal growth. Diabetologia. 1993; 36:62–66. PMID: 8436255.

2. Hales CN, Barker DJ. Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus: the thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Diabetologia. 1992; 35:595–601. PMID: 1644236.

3. Hales CN, Barker DJ, Clark PM, Cox LJ, Fall C, Osmond C, et al. Fetal and infant growth and impaired glucose tolerance at age 64. Br Med J. 1991; 303:1019–1022. PMID: 1954451.

4. Barker DJ, Winter PD, Osmond C, Margettes B, Simmonds SJ. Weight in infancy and death from ischemic heart disease. Lancet. 1989; 2:577–580. PMID: 2570282.

5. Newsome CA, Shiell AW, Fal C, Phillips D, Shier R, Law CM. Is birth weight related to later glucose and insulin metabolism? - a systemic review. Diabetic Med. 2003; 20:339–348. PMID: 12752481.

6. Choi CS, Kim C, Lee WJ, Park JY, Hong SK, Lee MG, et al. Association beween birth weight and insulin sensitivity in healthy young men in Korea: role of visceral adipocity. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2000; 49:53–59. PMID: 10808063.

7. Friedewald WT, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS. Estimation of the concentration of low density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma without use of preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem. 1972; 18:499–502. PMID: 4337382.

8. Matthews DR, Hosker JP, Rudenski AS, Naylor BA, Treacher DF, Turner RC. Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and beta-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man. Diabetologia. 1985; 28:412–419. PMID: 3899825.

9. Levy JC, Matthews DR, Hermans MP. Correct homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) evaluation uses the computer program (letter). Diabetes Care. 1998; 21:2191–2192. PMID: 9839117.

10. Bonora E, Targher G, Alberiche M, Bonadonna RC, Saggiani F, Zenere MB, et al. Homeostasis model assessment closely mirrors the glucose clamp technique in the assessment of insulin sensitivity: studies in subjects with various degrees of glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Diabetes Care. 2000; 23:57–63. PMID: 10857969.

11. Hermans MP, Levy JC, Morris RJ, Turner RC. Comparison of tests of beta-cell function across a range of glucose tolerance from normal to diabetes. Diabetes. 1999; 48:1779–1786. PMID: 10480608.

12. Barker DJ, Bull AR, Osmond C, Simmonds SJ. Fetal and placental size and risk of hypertension in adult life. Br Med J. 1990; 301:259–262. PMID: 2390618.

13. Barker DJ, Meade TW, Fall CH, Lee A, Osmond C, Phipps K, et al. Relation of fetal and infant growth to plasma fibrinogen and factor VII concentrations in a adult life. Br Med J. 1992; 304:148–152. PMID: 1737158.

14. Godfrey KM, Barker DJ. Fetal programming and adult health. Public Health Nutr. 2001; 4:611–624. PMID: 11683554.

15. Lucas A, Fewtrell MS, Cole TJ. Fetal origins of adult disease-the hypothesis revisited. Br Med J. 1999; 319:245–249. PMID: 10417093.

16. Robinson S, Walton RJ, Clark PM, Barker DJP, Hales CN, Osmond C. The relation of fetal growth to plasma glucose in young men. Diabetologia. 1992; 35:444–446. PMID: 1521726.

17. Law CM, Gordon GS, Shiell AW, Barker DJP, Hales CN. Thinness at birth and glucose tolerance in seven-year-old children. Diabet Med. 1995; 12:24–29. PMID: 7712699.

18. Valdez R, Athens MA, Thompson GH, Bradshaw BS, Stern MP. Birth weight and adult health outcomes in a biethnic population in the USA. Diabetologia. 1994; 37:624–631. PMID: 7926349.

19. Lithell HO, McKeigue PM, Berglund L, Mohsen R, Lithell U-B, Leon DA. Relation of size at birth to non-insulin dependent diabetes and insulin concentrations in men aged 50-60 years. Br Med J. 1996; 312:406–410. PMID: 8601111.

20. Taylor SJ, Whincup PH, Cook DG, Papacosta O, Walker M. Size at birth and blood pressure: cross sectional study in 8-11 year old children. Br Med J. 1997; 314:475–480. PMID: 9056797.

21. Forrester TE, Wilks RJ, Bennett FI, Simeon D, Osmond C, Allen M, et al. Fetal growth and cardiovascular risk factors in Jamaican schoolchildren. Br Med J. 1996; 312:156–160. PMID: 8563535.

22. Fall CH, Stein CE, Kumaran K, Cox V, Osmond C, Barker DJ, et al. Size at birth, maternal weight and type 2 diabetes in South India. Diabet Med. 1998; 15:220–227. PMID: 9545123.

23. Law CM, Barker DJ, Osmond C, Fall CH, Simmonds SJ. Early growth and abdominal fatness in adult life. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1992; 46:184–186. PMID: 1645067.

24. Fall CH, Pandit AN, Law CM, Yajnik CS, Clark PM, Breier B, et al. Size at birth and plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations. Arch Dis Child. 1995; 73:287–293. PMID: 7492190.

25. Whincup PH, Cook DG, Adshead F, Taylor SJC, Walker M, Papacosta O, et al. Childhood size is more strongly related than size at birth to glucose and insulin levels in 10-11-year-old children. Diabetologia. 1997; 40:319–326. PMID: 9084971.

26. Leon DA. Fetal growth and adult disease. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1998; 52:S72–S82. PMID: 9511023.

27. Bavdekar A, Yajnik CS, Fall CH, Bapat S, Pandit AN, Deshpande V, et al. Insulin resistance syndrome in 8-year old Indian children: small at birth, big at 8 years, or both. Diabetes. 1999; 48:2422–2429. PMID: 10580432.

28. Dabelea D, Pettitt DJ, Hanson RL, Imperatore G, Bennett PH, Knowler WC. Birth weight, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance in Pima Indian children and young adults. Diabetes Care. 1999; 22:944–950. PMID: 10372247.

29. Huxley RR, Shiell AW, Law CM. The role of size at birth and postnatal catch-up growth in determining systolic blood pressure: a systematic review of the literature. J Hypertens. 2000; 18:815–831. PMID: 10930178.

30. Taittonen L, Nuutinen M, Turtinen J, Uhari M. Prenatal and postnatal factors in predicting later blood pressure among children: cardiovascular risk in young Finns. Pediatr Res. 1996; 40:627–632. PMID: 8888294.

31. Owen CG, Whincup PH, Odoki K, Gilg JA, Cook DG. Birth weight and blood cholesterol Level: A study in adolescents and systematic review. Pediatrics. 2003; 111:1081–1089. PMID: 12728092.

32. Huxley RR, Owen CG, Whincup PH, Cook DG, Colman S, Collins R. Birth weight and subsequent cholesterol levels: exploration of the "fetal origins" hypothesis. JAMA. 2004; 292:2755–2764. PMID: 15585736.

33. Eaton-Evans J, Dugdale AE. Recall by mothers of the birth weights and feeding of their children. Hum Nutr Appl Nutr. 1986; 40:171–175. PMID: 3771280.

34. Ong KK, Dunger DB. Birth weight, infant growth and insulin resistance. Eur J Endocrinol. 2004; 151:U131–U139. PMID: 15554898.

35. Hattersley AT, Beards F, Ballantyne E, Appleton M, Harvey R, Ellard S. Mutations in the glucokinase gene of the fetus result in reduced birth weight. Nat Genet. 1998; 19:268–270. PMID: 9662401.

36. Dunger DB, Ong KK, Huxtable SJ, Sherriff A, Woods KA, Ahmed ML, et al. Association of the INS VNTR with size at birth. ALSPAC study team. Avon longitudinal study of pregnancy and childhood. Nat Genet. 1998; 19:98–100. PMID: 9590300.