Jing Wang1, Yaru Li1, Xu Han1, Bing Liu1, Hua Hu1, Fei Wang1, Xiulou Li2, Kun Yang2, Jing Yuan1, Ping Yao1, Xiaoping Miao1, Sheng Wei1, Youjie Wang1, Yuan Liang1, Xiaomin Zhang1, Huan Guo1, Handong Yang2, Frank B Hu3, Tangchun Wu1, Meian He4. 1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health for Incubating, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. 2. Dongfeng General Hospital, Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China; and. 3. Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. 4. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health for Incubating, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; hemeian@hotmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Evidence shows that exposure to poor conditions in early life is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases in adults. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether exposure to the Chinese famine (1959-1961) in the fetal stage or in childhood (0-9 y) was associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hyperglycemia in adulthood. METHODS: We included 7801 subjects aged 56.4 ± 3.3 y from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort. Subjects were classified into late-, middle-, and early-childhood-exposed, fetal-exposed, and unexposed groups. Excess mortality rate was used to evaluate the severity of famine. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the famine-dysglycemia associations. Generalized linear models were used to assess the famine effects on dysglycemia risk during the 5-y follow-up period among 3100 subjects. RESULTS: In descriptive analyses, the risk of T2D was significantly greater in the middle-childhood-exposed group (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.87; P = 0.007), and the risk of hyperglycemia was higher in the middle- and late-childhood-exposed groups than in the unexposed group (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.88 and OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.85, respectively). In sex-specific analyses, women exposed in middle childhood (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.06) and late childhood (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.87) had a higher risk of T2D than unexposed women. This association was not found in men. Similar associations were found for hyperglycemia risk. Moreover, subjects who experienced severe famine in childhood had a 38% higher T2D risk (95% CI: 1.05, 1.81) than those exposed to less severe famine. In retrospective cohort analyses, participants who experienced famine in middle childhood had a higher hyperglycemia risk relative to the unexposed group (RR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.08, 3.90). CONCLUSION: Exposure to the Chinese famine in childhood was related to an increased risk of adulthood T2D and hyperglycemia, particularly in women.
BACKGROUND: Evidence shows that exposure to poor conditions in early life is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases in adults. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether exposure to the Chinese famine (1959-1961) in the fetal stage or in childhood (0-9 y) was associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hyperglycemia in adulthood. METHODS: We included 7801 subjects aged 56.4 ± 3.3 y from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort. Subjects were classified into late-, middle-, and early-childhood-exposed, fetal-exposed, and unexposed groups. Excess mortality rate was used to evaluate the severity of famine. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the famine-dysglycemia associations. Generalized linear models were used to assess the famine effects on dysglycemia risk during the 5-y follow-up period among 3100 subjects. RESULTS: In descriptive analyses, the risk of T2D was significantly greater in the middle-childhood-exposed group (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.87; P = 0.007), and the risk of hyperglycemia was higher in the middle- and late-childhood-exposed groups than in the unexposed group (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.88 and OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.85, respectively). In sex-specific analyses, women exposed in middle childhood (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.06) and late childhood (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.87) had a higher risk of T2D than unexposed women. This association was not found in men. Similar associations were found for hyperglycemia risk. Moreover, subjects who experienced severe famine in childhood had a 38% higher T2D risk (95% CI: 1.05, 1.81) than those exposed to less severe famine. In retrospective cohort analyses, participants who experienced famine in middle childhood had a higher hyperglycemia risk relative to the unexposed group (RR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.08, 3.90). CONCLUSION: Exposure to the Chinese famine in childhood was related to an increased risk of adulthood T2D and hyperglycemia, particularly in women.