Self-reported teenage body size and heart failure in adults ≥ 65 years of age

Abstract

Overweight during childhood and young adulthood has been associated with higher rates of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in later adulthood [ 1 Must A. Jacques P.F. Dallal G.E. Bajema C.J. Dietz W.H. Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents. N Engl J Med. 1992; 327: 1350-1355 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1858) Google Scholar , 2 Gunnell D. Frankel S. Nanchahal K. Peters T. Davey Smith G. Childhood obesity and adult cardiovascular mortality: a 57-y follow-up study based on the Boyd Orr cohort. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998; 67: 1111-1118 PubMed Google Scholar , 3 Nieto F.J. Szklo M. Comstock G.W. Childhood weight and growth rate as predictors of adult mortality. Am J Epidemiol. 1992; 136: 201-213 PubMed Google Scholar , 4 Hoffmans M.D. Kromhout D. Coulander C.D. Body mass index at the age of 18 and its effects on 32-year-mortality from coronary heart disease and cancer. A nested case-control study among the entire 1932 Dutch male birth cohort. J Clin Epidemiol. 1989; 42: 513-520 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (87) Google Scholar ]. However, the relationship between body size in early life and incidence of heart failure (HF) in later adulthood is not known. We hypothesized that self-reported heavier-than-average teenage body size as an early teenager (ages 11–14) would be associated with a higher rate of incident HF in adulthood. We examined this hypothesis in a cohort of community dwelling older adults.