Abstract
Objective
Several studies have revealed that exposure to famine in early life was associated with higher body mass index(BMI) and waist circumference, and most of them used data from cross-sectional studies and defined those born before or after the famine period as non-exposed participants, which ignored the effects caused by age. Our objective was to study the effects of undernutrition in early life on overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity in those aged 54–56.
Methods
This was a retrospective cohort study with the status at age of 54–56 as outcomes. 1092 participants born between 1959 and 1961 from 2015 wave of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were defined as exposed and 1616 born between 1955 and 1957 from 2011 wave of CHARLS were defined as control. We used the prevalence odds ratios(ORs) to estimate the risks of overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity, and stratified by famine severity and sex separately for comparisons.
Results
Exposed group had higher risks of overweight (OR 1.357, 95%CI 1.067,1.727) and obesity (OR 1.356, 95%CI 1.001,1.836) in women, not in men. Participants in exposed group were more likely to have abdominal obesity (OR 1.362, 95%CI 1.139,1.629), regardless of famine severity and gender.
Conclusion
Undernutrition in early life increased the risks of overweight and obesity in women not in men. And the risk of abdominal obesity was increased with the experience of undernutrition at early age both in men and women.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Xi B, Liang Y, He T, Reilly KH, Hu Y, Wang Q, et al. Secular trends in the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among Chinese adults, 1993–2009. Obesity reviews: an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. 2012;13(3):287–96. PubMed PMID: WOS:000300684400006.
World Health Organization. Obesity and overweight: Fact sheet 2017 [cited 2017]. Available from: https://doi.org/www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/.
Cerhan JR, Moore SC, Jacobs EJ, Kitahara CM, Rosenberg PS, Adami HO, et al. A pooled analysis of waist circumference and mortality in 650,000 adults. Mayo Clin Proc. 2014;89(3):335–45. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4104704.
Prospective Studies C. Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. Lancet. 2009;373(9669):1083–96.
Kushner RF, Kahan S. Introduction: The State of Obesity in 2017. The Medical clinics of North America. 2018;102(1):1–11.
Zhang C, Rexrode KM, van Dam RM, Li TY, Hu FB. Abdominal obesity and the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: sixteen years of follow-up in US women. Circulation. 2008;117(13):1658–67.
Basen-Engquist K, Chang M. Obesity and cancer risk: recent review and evidence. Curr Oncol Rep. 2011;13(1):71–6. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3786180.
Hruby A, Manson JE, Qi L, Malik VS, Rimm EB, Sun Q, et al. Determinants and Consequences of Obesity. American journal of public health. 2016;106(9):1656–62. Epub 2016/07/28. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4981805.
Barker DJ, Gluckman PD, Godfrey KM, Harding JE, Owens JA, Robinson JS. Fetal nutrition and cardiovascular disease in adult life. Lancet. 1993;341(8850):938–41.
Wang Y, Wang X, Kong Y, Zhang JH, Zeng Q. The Great Chinese Famine leads to shorter and overweight females in Chongqing Chinese population after 50 years. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md). 2010;18(3):588–92.
Liu L, Pang ZC, Sun JP, Xue B, Wang SJ, Ning F, et al. Exposure to famine in early life and the risk of obesity in adulthood in Qingdao: Evidence from the 1959–1961 Chinese famine. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2017;27(2):154–60.
Yang Z, Zhao W, Zhang X, Mu R, Zhai Y, Kong L, et al. Impact of famine during pregnancy and infancy on health in adulthood. Obesity reviews: an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. 2008;9 Suppl 1:95–9. Epub 2008/03/01.
Ravelli AC, van Der Meulen JH, Osmond C, Barker DJ, Bleker OP. Obesity at the age of 50 y in men and women exposed to famine prenatally. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;70(5):811–6.
Li CH, Lumey LH. Studies into severe famine in early life and diabetes in adulthood: the need to control for differences in participant age and location. Diabetologia. 2017;60(7):1359–60. PubMed PMID: WOS:000402553400024.
Shi Z, Nicholls SJ, Taylor AW, Magliano DJ, Appleton S, Zimmet P. Early life exposure to Chinese famine modifies the association between hypertension and cardiovascular disease. J Hypertens(Los Angel). 2017:1.
Wang Z, Li C, Yang Z, Ma J, Zou Z. Fetal and infant exposure to severe Chinese famine increases the risk of adult dyslipidemia: Results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1):488. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5470181.
Wang N, Wang X, Li Q, Han B, Chen Y, Zhu C, et al. The famine exposure in early life and metabolic syndrome in adulthood. Clin Nutr. 2017;36(1):253–9.
Zhao Y, Hu Y, Smith JP, Strauss J, Yang G. Cohort profile: the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). International journal of epidemiology. 2014;43(1):61–8. Epub 2012/12/18. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3937970.
Luo Z, Mu R, Zhang X. Famine and overweight in China. Appl Econ Perspect Policy. 2006;28(3):296–304.
Li Y, Jaddoe VW, Qi L, He Y, Wang D, Lai J, et al. Exposure to the Chinese Famine in Early Life and the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome in Adulthood. Diabetes Care. 2011;34(4):1014–8.
National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China. Criteria of weight for adults(in Chinese).WS/T 428-2013[S].Beijing,2013;2.
Ramirez-Lopez MT, Vazquez M, Bindilas L, Lomazzo E, Hofmann C, Blanco RN, et al. Maternal Caloric Restriction Implemented during the Preconceptional and Pregnancy Period Alters Hypothalamic and Hippocampal Endocannabinoid Levels at Birth and Induces Overweight and Increased Adiposity at Adulthood in Male Rat Offspring. Front Behav Neurosci. 2016;10. PubMed PMID: WOS:000386654500001.
Barbero A, Astiz S, Lopez-Bote CJ, Perez-Solana ML, Ayuso M, Garcia-Real I, et al. Maternal undernutrition and offspring sex determine juvenile obesity and metabolic disorders in a swine model of leptin resistance. PLoS One. 2013;8(10):e78424. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3813450.
Nielsen MO, Kongsted AH, Thygesen MP, Strathe AB, Caddy S, Quistorff B, et al. Late gestation undernutrition can predispose for visceral adiposity by altering fat distribution patterns and increasing the preference for a high-fat diet in early postnatal life. Brit J Nutr. 2013;109(11):2098–110. PubMed PMID: WOS:000319126700021.
Kohmura YK, Kanayama N, Muramatsu K, Tamura N, Yaguchi C, Uchida T, et al. Association Between Body Weight at Weaning and Remodeling in the Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue of Obese Adult Mice With Undernourishment In Utero. Reprod Sci. 2013;20(7):813–27.
Stevens A, Begum G, White A. Epigenetic changes in the hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin gene: a mechanism linking maternal undernutrition to obesity in the offspring? Eur J Pharmacol. 2011;660(1):194–201.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chang, X., Song, P., Wang, M. et al. The Risks of Overweight, Obesity and Abdominal Obesity in Middle Age after Exposure to Famine in Early Life: Evidence from the China’s 1959–1961 Famine. J Nutr Health Aging 22, 1198–1204 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-018-1144-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-018-1144-z