Long-Term Metabolic Effects of High Birth Weight: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

Recent studies in USA, Europe, and across the world have revealed a continuous increase of mean birth weight in the last 2 decades. Strong evidence exists from several studies indicating that individuals born with a low birth weight are more likely to present cardiometabolic complications in later life. So far, the long-term consequences of high birth weight have not been clearly defined. This review examines the role of high birth weight on the development of cardiometabolic consequences (obesity, body composition, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease) in childhood and adulthood. The majority of the studies show that high BW is associated with an increased risk for obesity. To a certain extent high birth weight affects diseases of the heart and circulatory, but does not constitutes a risk for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the general population. Maternal glycemia and the subsequent fetus hyperinsulinemia appear to be the key component for increased fetal growth. With the increase in incidence of diabetes mellitus and obesity over the years, the number of high birth weight infants is likely to increase. The elucidation of the relationship between high birth weight and the cardiometabolic disorders will be particularly important.

Key words

birth weight - obesity - diabetes - cardiovascular disease

• References

• 1 Ananth CV, Wen SW. Trends in fetal growth among singleton gestations in the United States and Canada, 1985 through 1998. Semin Perinatol. 2002 26. 260-267
• 2 Wen SW, Kramer MS, Platt R, Demissie K, Joseph KS, Liu S, Sauve R. Secular trends of fetal growth in Canada, 1981 to 1997. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2003; 17: 347-354
• 3 Hadfield RM, Lain SJ, Simpson JM, Ford JB, Raynes-Greenow CH, Morris JM, Roberts CL. Are babies getting bigger? An analysis of birthweight trends in New South Wales, 1990–2005. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 312-315
• 4 Lahmann PH, Wills RA, Coory M. Trends in birth size and macrosomia in Queensland, Australia, from 1988 to 2005. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2009; 23: 533-541
• 5 Orskou J, Kesmodel U, Henriksen TB, Secher NJ. An increasing proportion of infants weigh more than 4000 grams at birth. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2001; 80: 931-936
• 6 Schack-Nielsen L, Mølgaard C, Sørensen TI, Greisen G, Michaelsen KF. Secular change in size at birth from 1973 to 2003: national data from Denmark. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2006; 14: 1257-1263
• 7 Surkan PJ, Hsieh CC, Johansson AL, Dickman PW, Cnattingius S. Reasons for increasing trends in large for gestational age births. Obstet Gynecol 2004; 104: 720-726
• 8 Donahue SM, Kleinman KP, Gillman MW, Oken E. Trends in birth weight and gestational length among singleton term births in the United States: 1990–2005. Obstet Gynecol 2010; 115: 357-364
• 9 Schiessl B, Beyerlein A, Lack N, von Kries R. Temporal trends in pregnancy weight gain and birth weight in Bavaria 2000–2007: slightly decreasing birth weight with increasing weight gain in pregnancy. J Perinat Med 2009; 37: 374-379
• 10 Diouf I, Charles MA, Blondel B, Heude B, Kaminski M. Discordant time trends in maternal body size and offspring birthweight of term deliveries in France between 1972 and 2003: data from the French National Perinatal Surveys. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2011; 25: 210-217
• 11 Ray JG, Vermeulen MJ, Shapiro JL, Kenshole AB. Maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregestational and gestational diabetes mellitus, and the influence of maternal obesity and weight gain: the DEPOSIT study. Diabetes Endocrine Pregnancy Outcome Study in Toronto. QJM 2001; 94: 347-356
• 12 Kumari AS. Pregnancy outcome in women with morbid obesity. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2001; 73: 101-107
• 13 Black MH, Sacks DA, Xiang AH, Lawrence JM. The relative contribution of prepregnancy overweight and obesity, gestational weight gain, and IADPSG-defined gestational diabetes mellitus to fetal overgrowth. Diabetes Care 2013; 36: 56-62
• 14 Persson M, Pasupathy D, Hanson U, Westgren M, Norman M. Pre-pregnancy body mass index and the risk of adverse outcome in type 1 diabetic pregnancies: a population-based cohort study. BMJ Open 2012; 2: e000601
• 15 Ehrenberg HM, Mercer BM, Catalano PM. The influence of obesity and diabetes on the prevalence of macrosomia. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2004; 191: 964-968
• 16 Hillier TA, Pedula KL, Vesco KK, Schmidt MM, Mullen JA, LeBlanc ES, Pettitt DJ. Excess gestational weight gain: modifying fetal macrosomia risk associated with maternal glucose. Obstet Gynecol 2008; 112: 1007-1014
• 17 Cedergren MI. Optimal gestational weight gain for body mass index categories. Obstet Gynecol 2007; 110: 759-764
• 18 Dietz PM, Callaghan WM, Sharma AJ. High pregnancy weight gain and risk of excessive fetal growth. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009; 201: 51.e1-51.e6
• 19 Giapros VI, Kiortsis DN, Evagelidou EN, Challa AS, Cholevas VK, Siomou EC, Bairaktari ET, Andronikou SK. Visfatin levels in prepubertal children born small or large for gestational age. Horm Metab Res 2012; 44: 135-139
• 20 Challa AS, Evagelidou EN, Cholevas VI, Kiortsis DN, Giapros VI, Drougia AA, Andronikou SK. Growth factors and adipocytokines in prepubertal children born small for gestational age: relation to insulin resistance. Diabetes Care 2009; 32: 714-719
• 21 Evagelidou EN, Giapros VI, Challa AS, Kiortsis DN, Tsatsoulis AA, Andronikou SK. Serum adiponectin levels, insulin resistance, and lipid profile in children born small for gestational age are affected by the severity of growth retardation at birth. Eur J Endocrinol 2007; 156: 271-277
• 22 Levy-Marchal C, Jaquet D, Czernichow P. Long-term metabolic consequences of being born small for gestational age. Semin Neonatol 2004; 9: 67-74
• 23 Levy-Marchal C, Jaquet D. Long-term metabolic consequences of being born small for gestational age. Pediatric Diabetes 2004; 5: 147-153
• 24 Pedersen J. Diabetes and Pregnancy. Blood Sugar of Newborn Infants. Ph.D. Thesis Copenhagen: Danish Science Press; 1952
• 25 Regnault TRH, Limesand SW, Hay WW. Factors Influencing Fetal Growth. NeoReviews 2001; 2: e119-e128
• 26 HAPO Study Cooperative Research Group . Metzger BE, Lowe LP, Dyer AR, Trimble ER, Chaovarindr U, Coustan DR, Hadden DR, McCance DR, Hod M, McIntyre HD, Oats JJ, Persson B, Rogers MS, Sacks DA. Hyperglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes. N Engl J Med 2008; 358: 1991-2002
• 27 HAPO Study Cooperative Research Group . Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study: associations with neonatal anthropometrics. Diabetes 2009; 58: 453-459
• 28 Ehrlich SF, Crites YM, Hedderson MM, Darbinian JA, Ferrara A. The risk of large for gestational age across increasing categories of pregnancy glycemia. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2011; 204: 240.e1-240.e6
• 29 Kerényi Z, Tamás G, Kivimäki M, Péterfalvi A, Madarász E, Bosnyák Z, Tabák AG. Maternal glycemia and risk of large-for-gestational-age babies in a population-based screening. Diabetes Care 2009; 32: 2200-2205
• 30 Harigaya A, Nagashima K, Nako Y, Morikawa A. Relationship between concentration of serum leptin and fetal growth. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997; 82: 3281-3284
• 31 Lepercq J, Challier JC, Guerre-Millo M, Cauzac M, Vidal H, Hauguel-de Mouzon S. Prenatal leptin production: evidence that fetal adipose tissue produces leptin. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001; 86: 2409-2413
• 32 Giapros V, Evagelidou E, Challa A, Kiortsis D, Drougia A, Andronikou S. Serum adiponectin and leptin levels and insulin resistance in children born large for gestational age are affected by the degree of overweight. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2007; 66: 353-359
• 33 Yan-Jun L, Tsushima T, Minei S, Sanaka M, Nagashima T, Yanagisawa K, Omori Y. Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP-1, -2 and -3) in diabetic pregnancy: relationship to macrosomia. Endocr J 1996; 43: 221-231
• 34 Luo ZC, Nuyt AM, Delvin E, Audibert F, Girard I, Shatenstein B, Cloutier A, Cousineau J, Djemli A, Deal C, Levy E, Wu Y, Julien P, Fraser WD. Maternal and fetal IGF-I and IGF-II levels, fetal growth, and gestational diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2012; 97: 1720-1728
• 35 Hiden U, Glitzner E, Hartmann M, Desoye G. Insulin and the IGF system in the human placenta of normal and diabetic pregnancies. J Anat 2009; 215: 60-68
• 36 Wiznitzer A, Reece EA, Homko C, Furman B, Mazor M, Levy J. Insulin-like growth factors, their binding proteins, and fetal macrosomia in offspring of nondiabetic pregnant women. Am J Perinatol 1998; 15: 23-28
• 37 Hills FA, English J, Chard T. Circulating levels of IGF-I and IGF-binding protein-1 throughout pregnancy: relation to birthweight and maternal weight. J Endocrinol 1996; 148: 303-309
• 38 Whittaker PG, Stewart MO, Taylor A, Howell RJ, Lind T. Insulin-like growth factor 1 and its binding protein 1 during normal and diabetic pregnancies. Obstet Gynecol 1990; 76: 223-229
• 39 Friedrich N, Thuesen B, Jørgensen T, Juul A, Spielhagen C, Wallaschofksi H, Linneberg A. The association between IGF-I and insulin resistance: a general population study in Danish adults. Diabetes Care 2012; 35: 768-773
• 40 Challa AS, Evagelidou EN, Giapros VI, Cholevas VI, Andronikou SK. Growth factors, adiponectin, leptin and body mass index in pre-pubertal children born large for gestational age. J Endocrinol Invest 2011; 34: 411-416
• 41 Renom Espineira A, Fernandes-Rosa FL, Bueno AC, de Souza RM, Moreira AC, de Castro M, Barbieri MA, Bettiol H, Antonini SR. Postnatal growth and cardiometabolic profile in young adults born large for gestational age. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2011; 75: 335-341
• 42 Kajantie E, Fall CH, Seppälä M, Koistinen R, Dunkel L, Ylihärsilä H, Osmond C, Andersson S, Barker DJ, Forsén T, Holt RI, Phillips DI, Eriksson J. Serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-binding protein-1 in elderly people: relationships with cardiovascular risk factors, body composition, size at birth, and childhood growth. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003; 88: 1059-1065
• 43 Christou H, Connors JM, Ziotopoulou M, Hatzidakis V, Papathanassoglou E, Ringer SA, Mantzoros CS. Cord blood leptin and insulin-like growth factor levels are independent predictors of fetal growth. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001; 86: 935-938
• 44 Curhan GC, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Spiegelman D, Ascherio AL, Stampfer MJ. Birth weight and adult hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in US men. Circulation 1996; 94: 3246-3250
• 45 Eriksson J, Forsen T, Tuomilehto J, Osmond C, Barker D. Size at birth, childhood growth and obesity in adult life. Int J Obes 2001; 25: 735-740
• 46 Leong NM, Mignone LI, Newcomb PA, Titus-Ernstoff L, Baron JA, Trentham-Dietz A, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Egan KM. Early life risk factors in cancer: the relation of birth weight to adult obesity. Int J Cancer 2003; 103: 789-791
• 47 Ylihärsilä H, Kajantie E, Osmond C, Forsén T, Barker DJ, Eriksson JG. Birth size, adult body composition and muscle strength in later life. Int J Obes (Lond) 2007; 31: 1392-1399
• 48 Sayer AA, Syddall HE, Dennison EM, Gilbody HJ, Duggleby SL, Cooper C, Barker DJ, Phillips DI. Birth weight, weight at 1 y of age, and body composition in older men: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2004; 80: 199-203
• 49 Tian JY, Cheng Q, Song XM, Li G, Jiang GX, Gu YY, Luo M. Birth weight and risk of type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity and hypertension among Chinese adults. Eur J Endocrinol 2006; 155: 601-607
• 50 McCarthy A, Hughes R, Tilling K, Davies D, Smith GD, Ben-Shlomo Y. Birth weight; postnatal, infant, and childhood growth; and obesity in young adulthood: evidence from the Barry Caerphilly Growth Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 86: 907-913
• 51 Rogers IS, Ness AR, Steer CD, Wells JC, Emmett PM, Reilly JR, Tobias J, Smith GD. Associations of size at birth and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measures of lean and fat mass at 9 to 10 y of age. Am J Clin Nutr 2006; 84: 739-747
• 52 Singhal A, Wells J, Cole TJ, Fewtrell M, Lucas A. Programming of lean body mass: a link between birth weight, obesity, and cardiovascular disease?. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 77: 726-730
• 53 Dabelea D, Hanson RL, Bennett PH, Roumain J, Knowler WC, Pettitt DJ. Increasing prevalence of Type II diabetes in American Indian children. Diabetologia 1998; 41: 904-910
• 54 McCance DR, Pettitt DJ, Hanson RL, Jacobsson LT, Knowler WC, Bennett PH. Birth weight and non-insulin dependent diabetes: thrifty genotype, thrifty phenotype, or surviving small baby genotype?. BMJ 1994; 308: 942-945
• 55 Dyck RF, Klomp H, Tan L. From “thrifty genotype” to “hefty fetal phenotype”: the relationship between high birthweight and diabetes in Saskatchewan Registered Indians. Can J Public Health 2001; 92: 340-344
• 56 Burke JP, Forsgren J, Palumbo PJ, Bailey KR, Desai J, Devlin H, Leibson CL. Association of birth weight and type 2 diabetes in Rochester, Minnesota. Diabetes Care 2004; 27: 2512-2513
• 57 Eriksson M, Wallander MA, Krakau I, Wedel H, Svärdsudd K. Birth weight and cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort followed until 80 years of age: the study of men born in 1913. J Intern Med 2004; 255: 236-246
• 58 Wei JN, Sung FC, Li CY, Chang CH, Lin RS, Lin CC, Chiang CC, Chuang LM. Low birth weight and high birth weight infants are both at an increased risk to have type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren in Taiwan. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 343-348
• 59 Hales CN, Barker DJ, Clark PM, Cox LJ, Fall C, Osmond C, Winter PD. Fetal and infant growth and impaired glucose tolerance at age 64. BMJ 1991; 303: 1019-1022
• 60 Hyppönen E, Power C, Smith GD. Prenatal growth, BMI, and risk of type 2 diabetes by early midlife. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 2512-2517
• 61 Wannamethee SG, Lawlor DA, Whincup PH, Walker M, Ebrahim S, Davey-Smith G. Birthweight of offspring and paternal insulin resistance and paternal diabetes in late adulthood: cross sectional survey. Diabetologia 2004; 47: 12-18
• 62 David RJ, Collins Jr JW. Differing birth weight among infants of U.S.-born blacks, African-born blacks, and U.S.-born whites. N Engl J Med 1997; 337: 1209-1214
• 63 Deurenberg P, Deurenberg-Yap M, Guricci S. Asians are different from Caucasians and from each other in their body mass index/body fat per cent relationship. Obes Rev 2002; 3: 141-146
• 64 Darendeliler F, Poyrazoglu S, Sancakli O, Bas F, Gokcay G, Aki S, Eskiyurt N. Adiponectin is an indicator of insulin resistance in non-obese prepubertal children born large for gestational age (LGA) and is affected by birth weight. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2009; 70: 710-716
• 65 Evagelidou EN, Kiortsis DN, Bairaktari ET, Giapros VI, Cholevas VK, Tzallas CS, Andronikou SK. Lipid profile, glucose homeostasis, blood pressure, and obesity-anthropometric markers in macrosomic offspring of nondiabetic mothers. Diabetes Care 2006; 29: 1197-1201
• 66 Chiavaroli V, D’Adamo E, Giannini C, de Giorgis T, De Marco S, Chiarelli F, Mohn A. Serum levels of receptors for advanced glycation end products in normal-weight and obese children born small and large for gestational age. Diabetes Care 2012; 35: 1361-1363
• 67 Chiavaroli V, Giannini C, D’Adamo E, de Giorgis T, Chiarelli F, Mohn A. Insulin resistance and oxidative stress in children born small and large for gestational age. Pediatrics 2009; 124: 695-702
• 68 Murtaugh MA, Jacobs Jr DR, Moran A, Steinberger J, Sinaiko AR. Relation of birth weight to fasting insulin, insulin resistance, and body size in adolescence. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 187-192
• 69 Rich-Edwards JW, Kleinman K, Michels KB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Rexrode KM, Hibert EN, Willett WC. Longitudinal study of birth weight and adult body mass index in predicting risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in women. BMJ 2005; 330: 1115
• 70 Osler M, Lund R, Kriegbaum M, Andersen AM. The influence of birth weight and body mass in early adulthood on early coronary heart disease risk among Danish men born in 1953. Eur J Epidemiol 2009; 24: 57-61
• 71 Gunnarsdottir I, Birgisdottir BE, Thorsdottir I, Gudnason V, Benediktsson R. Size at birth and coronary artery disease in a population with high birth weight. Am J Clin Nutr 2002; 76: 1290-1294
• 72 Baker JL, Olsen LW, Sorensen TI. Weight at birth and all-cause mortality in adulthood. Epidemiology 2008; 19: 197-203
• 73 Osmond C, Barker DJ, Winter PD, Fall CH, Simmonds SJ. Early growth and death from cardiovascular disease in women. BMJ 1993; 307: 1519-1524
• 74 Lawlor DA, Ronalds G, Clark H, Smith GD, Leon DA. Birth weight is inversely associated with incident coronary heart disease and stroke among individuals born in the 1950s: findings from the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s prospective cohort study. Circulation 2005; 112: 1414-1418
• 75 Andersen LG, Angquist L, Eriksson JG, Forsen T, Gamborg M, Osmond C, Baker JL, Sørensen TI. Birth weight, childhood body mass index and risk of coronary heart disease in adults: combined historical cohort studies. PLoS One 2010; 5: e14126
• 76 Eriksson JG, Forsén T, Tuomilehto J, Osmond C, Barker DJ. Early growth and coronary heart disease in later life: longitudinal study. BMJ 2001; 322: 949-953
• 77 Stuart A, Amer-Wåhlin I, Persson J, Källen K. Long-term cardiovascular risk in relation to birth weight and exposure to maternal diabetes mellitus. Int J Cardiol 2013; pii: S0167-5273(13) 00451-8
• 78 Gunnarsdottir I, Birgisdottir BE, Benediktsson R, Gudnason V, Thorsdottir I. Relationship between size at birth and hypertension in a genetically homogeneous population of high birth weight. J Hypertens 2002; 20: 623-628
• 79 Liew G, Wang JJ, Duncan BB, Klein R, Sharrett AR, Brancati F, Yeh HC, Mitchell P, Wong TY. Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Low birthweight is associated with narrower arterioles in adults. Hypertension 2008; 51: 933-938
• 80 Gamborg M, Byberg L, Rasmussen F, Andersen PK, Baker JL, Bengtsson C, Canoy D, Droyvold W, Eriksson JG, Forsén T, Gunnarsdottir I, Järvelin MR, Koupil I, Lapidus L, Nilsen TI, Olsen SF, Schack-Nielsen L, Thorsdottir I, Tuomainen TP, Sorensen TI. NordNet Study Group . Birth weight and systolic blood pressure in adolescence and adulthood: meta-regression analysis of sex- and age-specific results from 20 Nordic studies. Am J Epidemiol 2007; 166: 634-645
• 81 Schellong K, Schulz S, Harder T, Plageman A. Birth weight and long-term overweight risk: systematic review and a meta-analysis including 643,902 persons from 66 studies and 26 countries globally. PLoS ONE 2012; 7: e47776
• 82 Yu ZB, Han SP, Zhu GZ, Zhu C, Wang XJ, Cao XG, Guo XR. Birth weight and subsequent risk of obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Rev 2011; 12: 525-542
• 83 Whincup PH, Kaye SJ, Owen CG, Huxley R, Cook DG, Anazawa S, Barrett-Connor E, Bhargava SK, Birgisdottir BE, Carlsson S, de Rooij SR, Dyck RF, Eriksson JG, Falkner B, Fall C, Forsén T, Grill V, Gudnason V, Hulman S, Hyppönen E, Jeffreys M, Lawlor DA, Leon DA, Minami J, Mishra G, Osmond C, Power C, Rich-Edwards JW, Roseboom TJ, Sachdev HS, Syddall H, Thorsdottir I, Vanhala M, Wadsworth M, Yarbrough DE. Birth Weight and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review. JAMA 2008; 300: 2886-2897
• 84 Mu M, Wang S-F, Sheng J, Zhao Y, Li H-Z, Hu C-L, Tao F-B. Birth weight and subsequent blood pressure: A meta-analysis. Arch Cardiovasc Dis 2012; 105: 99-113