Birth weight, climate at birth and the risk of obesity in adult life

D. I.W. Phillips; J. B. Young

doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0801125

Birth weight, climate at birth and the risk of obesity in adult life

D. I.W. Phillips, J. B. Young^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Medicine, Endocrinology Division

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

87 Scopus citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether obesity in adults is related to seasonal or climatic conditions around the time of birth. SUBJECTS: 1750 men and women born in Hertfordshire between 1920 and 1930. MEASUREMENTS: Height and weight measured in the home by trained fieldworkers. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) rose with increasing birth weight in men and women. In men, BMI and the prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²) varied as a function of month of birth and was greater among those born in January-June than among those born in July - December. The relationship between birth weight and adult obesity was also stronger in those born in the first 6 months of the year or following cold winters than in those born in the last 6 months of the year or following mild winters. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that adult obesity is linked both to high birth weight and to early cold exposure. Consequently, exposures in early life may contribute to individual variation in susceptibility to obesity in adults.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	281-287
Number of pages	7
Journal	International Journal of Obesity
Volume	24
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801125
State	Published - 2000

Keywords

Birth weight
Body mass index
Obesity
Temperature

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Medicine (miscellaneous)
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Nutrition and Dietetics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/sj.ijo.0801125

Cite this

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title = "Birth weight, climate at birth and the risk of obesity in adult life",

abstract = "OBJECTIVE: To determine whether obesity in adults is related to seasonal or climatic conditions around the time of birth. SUBJECTS: 1750 men and women born in Hertfordshire between 1920 and 1930. MEASUREMENTS: Height and weight measured in the home by trained fieldworkers. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) rose with increasing birth weight in men and women. In men, BMI and the prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) varied as a function of month of birth and was greater among those born in January-June than among those born in July - December. The relationship between birth weight and adult obesity was also stronger in those born in the first 6 months of the year or following cold winters than in those born in the last 6 months of the year or following mild winters. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that adult obesity is linked both to high birth weight and to early cold exposure. Consequently, exposures in early life may contribute to individual variation in susceptibility to obesity in adults.",

keywords = "Birth weight, Body mass index, Obesity, Temperature",

author = "Phillips, {D. I.W.} and Young, {J. B.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Climate Research Unit and Dr M Hulme at the University of East Anglia for the temperature data. We are also grateful to the men and women in Hertfordshire who took part in the study, and the fieldworkers who collected the data, Dr C Fall and Dr A Sayer. We also thank Professor DJP Barker for helpful discussions and his support with this study. Supported in part by the Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation and USPHS grant DK 20378.",

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doi = "10.1038/sj.ijo.0801125",

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AU - Phillips, D. I.W.

AU - Young, J. B.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Climate Research Unit and Dr M Hulme at the University of East Anglia for the temperature data. We are also grateful to the men and women in Hertfordshire who took part in the study, and the fieldworkers who collected the data, Dr C Fall and Dr A Sayer. We also thank Professor DJP Barker for helpful discussions and his support with this study. Supported in part by the Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation and USPHS grant DK 20378.

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether obesity in adults is related to seasonal or climatic conditions around the time of birth. SUBJECTS: 1750 men and women born in Hertfordshire between 1920 and 1930. MEASUREMENTS: Height and weight measured in the home by trained fieldworkers. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) rose with increasing birth weight in men and women. In men, BMI and the prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) varied as a function of month of birth and was greater among those born in January-June than among those born in July - December. The relationship between birth weight and adult obesity was also stronger in those born in the first 6 months of the year or following cold winters than in those born in the last 6 months of the year or following mild winters. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that adult obesity is linked both to high birth weight and to early cold exposure. Consequently, exposures in early life may contribute to individual variation in susceptibility to obesity in adults.

AB - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether obesity in adults is related to seasonal or climatic conditions around the time of birth. SUBJECTS: 1750 men and women born in Hertfordshire between 1920 and 1930. MEASUREMENTS: Height and weight measured in the home by trained fieldworkers. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) rose with increasing birth weight in men and women. In men, BMI and the prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) varied as a function of month of birth and was greater among those born in January-June than among those born in July - December. The relationship between birth weight and adult obesity was also stronger in those born in the first 6 months of the year or following cold winters than in those born in the last 6 months of the year or following mild winters. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that adult obesity is linked both to high birth weight and to early cold exposure. Consequently, exposures in early life may contribute to individual variation in susceptibility to obesity in adults.

KW - Birth weight

KW - Body mass index

KW - Obesity

KW - Temperature

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Birth weight, climate at birth and the risk of obesity in adult life

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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