Association between birth weight and cardiometabolic risk factors in children of Bucaramanga, Colombia>

Abstract

Birth weight could be a medium-term risk factor in the development of overweight and obesity and a long-term risk factor of cardio-metabolic diseases. To evaluate the association between birth weight and cardio-metabolic risk factors in children from Bucaramanga, Colombia. This cross-sectional study included 1,282 children between five and eleven years of age in Bucaramanga. Dependent variables: arterial hypertension, arterial prehypertension, overweight/obesity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia. The main independent variable: birth weight (grams). The association between the independent and dependent variables was evaluated through logistic and multiple linear regression. Data analysis was performed using Stata v. 12.0 software. The overweight prevalence (overweight or obesity) was 22.93% (95% CI 20.64%-25.33%), while the low birth weight prevalence was 3.70% (95% CI 2.65%-5.00%). The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor was overweight, followed by high LDL-cholesterol levels (17.24%, 95% CI 15.20-19.41%). Following an adjustment by age, sex, socioeconomic level and physical activity and obstetric maternal history, overweight, BMI Z-scores for age and systolic blood pressure had a statistically significant association with birth weight (OR: 1.44; 95% CI 1.10-1.89; p = 0.006, β= 0.23, 95% CI: 0.10-0.36, p = 0.001 and β= 1.18, CI 95%: 0.24-2.12, p = 0.013, respectively). Children with higher birth weight showed more likely to develop overweight or obesity during childhood.