BACKGROUND: Fetal programming of adult disease may be a long-term effect of fetal nutrition. Expected short-term effects include changes in body size and proportions at birth. The specific responses of fetal growth to acute undernutrition at varying points in pregnancy are still unclear. METHODS: We abstracted all birth records of infants born in two midwife training schools in the western Netherlands between 1 October 1944 and 31 March 1946, and compared infants whose mothers were exposed to the Dutch famine of 1944-1945 during specific trimesters of pregnancy with control infants born in 1943. We considered birthweight (BWT), crown-to-heel length (CHL), head circumference (HC), and ratio and regression-adjusted measures of these parameters. RESULTS: BWT, CHL, and HC declined with famine exposure late in pregnancy. Changes in WT for CHL paralleled changes in WT alone in size and direction. Results for HC were inconsistent, varying by choice of body size adjustor (WT or CHL), and by method of adjustment (ratio or regression). BWT, CHL, and HC did not change with first trimester famine exposure. CONCLUSION: Even under famine conditions, birth size and body proportions vary only with late pregnancy exposure. HC for body size has the added disadvantage that late pregnancy exposure effects vary drastically with choice of measure. We do not recommend the use of birth size or body proportions as a proxy for fetal nutritional status in the study of adult disease.
BACKGROUND: Fetal programming of adult disease may be a long-term effect of fetal nutrition. Expected short-term effects include changes in body size and proportions at birth. The specific responses of fetal growth to acute undernutrition at varying points in pregnancy are still unclear. METHODS: We abstracted all birth records of infants born in two midwife training schools in the western Netherlands between 1 October 1944 and 31 March 1946, and compared infants whose mothers were exposed to the Dutch famine of 1944-1945 during specific trimesters of pregnancy with control infants born in 1943. We considered birthweight (BWT), crown-to-heel length (CHL), head circumference (HC), and ratio and regression-adjusted measures of these parameters. RESULTS: BWT, CHL, and HC declined with famine exposure late in pregnancy. Changes in WT for CHL paralleled changes in WT alone in size and direction. Results for HC were inconsistent, varying by choice of body size adjustor (WT or CHL), and by method of adjustment (ratio or regression). BWT, CHL, and HC did not change with first trimester famine exposure. CONCLUSION: Even under famine conditions, birth size and body proportions vary only with late pregnancy exposure. HC for body size has the added disadvantage that late pregnancy exposure effects vary drastically with choice of measure. We do not recommend the use of birth size or body proportions as a proxy for fetal nutritional status in the study of adult disease.
Authors: Bastiaan T Heijmans; Elmar W Tobi; Aryeh D Stein; Hein Putter; Gerard J Blauw; Ezra S Susser; P Eline Slagboom; L H Lumey Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2008-10-27 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Rachel M Freathy; Dennis O Mook-Kanamori; Ulla Sovio; Inga Prokopenko; Nicholas J Timpson; Diane J Berry; Nicole M Warrington; Elisabeth Widen; Jouke Jan Hottenga; Marika Kaakinen; Leslie A Lange; Jonathan P Bradfield; Marjan Kerkhof; Julie A Marsh; Reedik Mägi; Chih-Mei Chen; Helen N Lyon; Mirna Kirin; Linda S Adair; Yurii S Aulchenko; Amanda J Bennett; Judith B Borja; Nabila Bouatia-Naji; Pimphen Charoen; Lachlan J M Coin; Diana L Cousminer; Eco J C de Geus; Panos Deloukas; Paul Elliott; David M Evans; Philippe Froguel; Beate Glaser; Christopher J Groves; Anna-Liisa Hartikainen; Neelam Hassanali; Joel N Hirschhorn; Albert Hofman; Jeff M P Holly; Elina Hyppönen; Stavroula Kanoni; Bridget A Knight; Jaana Laitinen; Cecilia M Lindgren; Wendy L McArdle; Paul F O'Reilly; Craig E Pennell; Dirkje S Postma; Anneli Pouta; Adaikalavan Ramasamy; Nigel W Rayner; Susan M Ring; Fernando Rivadeneira; Beverley M Shields; David P Strachan; Ida Surakka; Anja Taanila; Carla Tiesler; Andre G Uitterlinden; Cornelia M van Duijn; Alet H Wijga; Gonneke Willemsen; Haitao Zhang; Jianhua Zhao; James F Wilson; Eric A P Steegers; Andrew T Hattersley; Johan G Eriksson; Leena Peltonen; Karen L Mohlke; Struan F A Grant; Hakon Hakonarson; Gerard H Koppelman; George V Dedoussis; Joachim Heinrich; Matthew W Gillman; Lyle J Palmer; Timothy M Frayling; Dorret I Boomsma; George Davey Smith; Chris Power; Vincent W V Jaddoe; Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin; Mark I McCarthy Journal: Nat Genet Date: 2010-04-06 Impact factor: 38.330