Prediction of male adult stature using anthropometric data at birth: A nationwide population-based study

Short stature and excess weight in adulthood are both associated with an in creased risk of health problems. In a population-based investigation, data on birth length, birth weight, and gestational age for males born in Sweden in 1976 were used to predict the risk of being short or overweight in adul thood. The Swedish Birth Register was used to identify singleton males, bor n to Nordic mothers, who were without malformations and alive at 18 y of ag e. After individual record linkage between the Birth Register and the Swedi sh Conscript Register, information about height and weight at 18-21 y was o btained for 90% (n = 39901) of the birth cohort. Logistic regression analys es were used to estimate the risk of being short or overweight at conscript ion. The odds ratio (OR) was used to estimate relative risk. At conscriptio n, mean height (+/-SD) was 179.5 +/- 6.6 cm, mean weight 72.1 +/- 11.2 kg, and mean body mass index 22.3 +/- 3.1 kg/m(2). The risk of short adult stat ure (<166.3 cm) was associated with being short for gestational age (OR = 5 .9), having a low birth weight for gestational age (OR = 1.7), and being bo rn at a gestational age below 32 wk (OR = 2.6). The risk of being overweigh t (body mass index > f2 SD) was primarily associated with a high ponderal i ndex (> +2 SD; OR = 1.8). In conclusion, anthropometric birth data are bett er predictors of shea stature than of being overweight in adulthood. Among anthropometric data at birth, birth length is the most important predictor of adult height.