Birth weight, childhood growth, and cardiovascular disease risk factors inJapanese aged 20 years

To determine whether birth weight and childhood growth, especially rate of height increase, are independently related to major cardiovascular disease risk factors in adult life, the authors conducted a 20-year follow-up study in a Japanese population, using the record-linkage method. From medical ch eckup data for babies and for residents aged 20 years in Ishikawa, Japan, t he authors obtained 20-year follow-up data (1985-1994) on 4,626 participant s (2,198 men and 2,428 women) born in 1965-1974. Using multiple linear regr ession analysis, the authors estimated that a 1-standard-deviation higher b irth weight was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure that was lower by 1.6 mmHg in men and by 1.0 mmHg in women, and with a serum cho lesterol level that was lower by 0.07 mmol/liter in men and by 0.04 mmol/li ter in women, after adjustment for current weight and rate of height increa se. Moreover, after adjustment for birth weight and current weight, a 1-sta ndard-deviation higher rate of height increase from age 3 years to age 20 y ears was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure that was low er by 0.7 mmHg in men and by 0.5 mmHg in women, and with serum cholesterol that was lower by 0.09 mmol/liter in men and by 0.05 mmol/liter in women. T he results suggest that lower birth weight and lower rate of height increas e during childhood are independently associated with increases in blood pre ssure and serum cholesterol in adult life.