BODY-WEIGHT CHANGE AND CAROTID-ARTERY WALL THICKNESS - THE ATHEROSCLEROSIS RISK IN COMMUNITIES (ARIC) STUDY

The impact of weight change in adulthood on cardiovascular disease is controversial. This study examined the association of change in body w eight, from young adulthood to middle age, with average carotid artery intimal-medial wall thickness by B-mode ultrasound measured in middle age. Participants were 13,282 men and women aged 45-64 years from the baseline examination of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC ) Study (1987-1989). Weight change was calculated as the difference be tween weight at the baseline examination and self-reported weight at a ge 25. White men gained a mean of 9.7 kg; black men, 10.1 kg; white wo men, 12.0 kg; and black women, 20.8 kg. Weight change was positively, albeit modestly, associated with intimal-medial thickness in black men and white men and in white women, but not in black women. Adjusted fo r age, examination center, smoking, education, sports activity level, height, and body mass index at age 25, the differences in intimal-medi al thickness associated with a 10-kg increment in weight change were 0 .016 (95% confidence interval 0.010 to 0.022) mm in white men, 0.008 ( 95% confidence interval 0.001 to 0.015) mm in black men, 0.013 (95% co nfidence interval 0.009 to 0.017) mm in white women, and 0.002 (95% co nfidence interval -0.002 to 0.006) mm in black women. These findings s upport the hypothesis that weight gain in adulthood promotes atheroscl erotic changes in white men and women and in black men.