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Nutrition in early childhood and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adulthood: evidence from Guatemala
Author(s) -
Stein AD,
Wang M,
Flores R,
Grajeda R,
Melgar P,
Ramakrishnan U,
RamirezZea M,
Martorell R
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a987
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , offspring , blood pressure , confidence interval , disease , pregnancy , metabolic syndrome , pediatrics , endocrinology , biology , genetics
While substantial evidence exists that relates size at birth and growth in childhood to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors, little is known about the role of nutrition in underpinning this process. We measured a set of CVD risk factors in 2002–2004 among 602 men and 764 women (age 25–42 y) who had been exposed at different ages from gestation through 7 y to a community‐randomized nutrition supplementation intervention in 4 villages in eastern Guatemala. We used multiple linear and logistic regressions to derive effect estimates. Exposure to the intervention was associated with lower fasting glucose, with the effect strongest (7.0mg/dL, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.5, 13.5) for exposure at age 36–72 mo, with lower triglyceride levels (sex‐adjusted: 22.3 mg/dL; 95% CI 0.4, 44.1) and with higher HDL cholesterol (men only: 4.7 mg/dL; 95% CI 1.5, 7.9) with exposure prior to age 36 mo. We observed no association of exposure to improved nutrition at any age prior to 7 y with systolic or diastolic blood pressure, with total or LDL cholesterol or with the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension or the metabolic syndrome (all p>0.05). Our data provide some reassurance that efforts to address nutrient deficiencies and ameliorate stunting through interventions targeted at pregnant women and young children are unlikely to have adverse consequences for the cardiovascular disease risk of the offspring, and may, in some cases, be beneficial.