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Early‐life background and the development of non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus
Author(s) -
Leonetti Donna L.,
Fujimoto Wilfred Y.,
Wahl Patricia W.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330790311
Subject(s) - housewife , family history , diabetes mellitus , demography , medicine , logistic regression , odds ratio , confidence interval , insulin , gerontology , endocrinology , geography , archaeology , sociology
The relationship of early‐life background factors to type 2, or non‐insulin‐dependent, diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) was examined with reference to family history of diabetes in two groups of Nisei (U.S. born/raised Japanese American) men from King County, Washington with identical mean (±S.E.M.) ages: 78 with NIDDM, 61.6 (±0.7) years of age; and 79 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 61.6 (±0.6) years of age. The early‐life variables were birthplace, parents' education, father's occupation and mother's employment status during subject's childhood, sibship size, son birth order, physical activity and weight assessed for ages 15–20 years, and educational achievement. Mul‐tivariate logistic regression models were used to test for the effect of each variable on the risk for diabetes in the presence of other variables. Results are presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Significantly higher risk for NIDDM was found with urban birthplace (vs. rural, OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.37–3.19), parents' education above primary level (vs. primary level or less, OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.08–2.50), mother being employed (vs. housewife, OR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.43–3.45), subject being less active‐lean as a youth (vs. more active‐lean, OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.11–2.63), and subject's not attaining a college degree (vs. college degree, OR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.41–3.33). In separate analyses of the early‐life variables by family history of diabetes, the interplay of environmental influences with familial predisposition to NIDDM is evident. The developmental background of NIDDM is discussed with reference to the concept of phenotype amplification within the context of the effects of westernization.