Association of Low Birth Weight and Premature Birth With the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis.

Youping Deng,Dongchi Zhao,Lihong Liao

doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00405

Abstract

The association of preterm or low birth weight (LBW) with the risk of metabolic syndrome is still unclear. This study aimed to assess the association between preterm or LBW and metabolic syndrome risk according to study or participants' characteristics. PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE were searched for epidemiologic studies on the association published up to April 30, 2020. Pooled odds ratio (ORs) and weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random-effects model. Low birth weight was associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.17–1.61). In the subgroup analysis by study design, the pooled ORs for LBW and metabolic syndrome in the cohort and cross-sectional studies were 1.79 and 1.22. In the subgroup analysis by sex, LBW was found to be associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in pooled studies including both men and women or studies including only women. The association between premature birth and risk of metabolic syndrome was significant in cohort studies (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.12–2.65). Also, LBW or preterm was significantly associated with a higher Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (WMD, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.19–0.36). Low birth weight and preterm might be risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

Highlights

Metabolic syndrome is defined as a cluster of any three or more of these features: elevated waist circumference, elevated triglyceride level, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting glucose level [1,2,3], and insulin resistance is the pathogenesis [4, 5]
No evidence of significant small-study effect in terms of the association between premature birth and the risk of metabolic syndrome was found (Egger test: P = 0.693). This meta-analysis assessed the association of low birth weight (LBW) and premature birth with the risk of metabolic syndrome
The results of the meta-analysis indicated that LBW might increase the risk of metabolic syndrome

Summary

Introduction

Metabolic syndrome is defined as a cluster of any three or more of these features: elevated waist circumference, elevated triglyceride level, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting glucose level [1,2,3], and insulin resistance is the pathogenesis [4, 5]. The median prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the whole population was 3.3%, which ranged from 0 to 19.2% [6]. Previous studies found that a cluster of symptoms of metabolic syndrome was associated with various chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer at various sites [7,8,9]. Clarifying the independent risk factors for metabolic syndrome is important in the general population. Several epidemiological studies were conducted to look for the cause of metabolic syndrome. Behavioral, and psychological factors have been confirmed to be associated with metabolic syndrome, such as sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverage intake [10], low levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior [11], and anxiety [12]. Many studies found an association of several perinatal risk factors, such as low birth weight

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