Birth weight and metabolic risk in women of different nutrition levels

Introduction: Nowadays, obesity is one of the most important health problems in both developed and developing countries. Recent studies have shown a significant association of obesity and its complications with birth weight. The aim of our study was to analyze the effect of birth weight on the occurrence of metabolic disorders in normal weight and obese women. Material and Methods: The study group included 134 females of average age 41.71±11.56 years. In these women the relationship between birth weight and anthropometric and biochemical parameters, as well as with blood pressure values was analyzed. Results: Our results show that women with higher birth weight had higher values of the anthropometric indicators of fat mass and distribution (such as body mass index, total fat mass, waist circumference and hip circumference), as well as higher values of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol. In contrast, the values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol were lower in women with higher birth weight. The analysis of metabolic profile in women of different nutritional status indicates that normal weight women with metabolic syndrome had a lower birth weight when compared with normal weight women without metabolic risk (3.15 vs. 3.40 kg, p>0.05). Conclusion: Higher birth weight is related with higher fat mass, while lower birth weight is related with metabolic disturbances. Birth weight seemed to be determinant of metabolic risk in normal weight women