The effect of birth weight on body composition: Evidence from a birth cohort and a Mendelian randomization study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lower birth weight is associated with diabetes although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Muscle mass could be a modifiable link and hence a target of intervention. We assessed the associations of birth weight with muscle and fat mass observationally in a population with little socio-economic patterning of birth weight and using Mendelian randomization (MR) for validation.

Methods

In the population-representative "Children of 1997" birth cohort (n = 8,327), we used multivariable linear regression to assess the adjusted associations of birth weight (kg) with muscle mass (kg) and body fat (%) at ~17.5 years. Genetically predicted birth weight (effect size) was applied to summary genetic associations with fat-free mass and fat mass (kg) from the UK Biobank (n =

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6736493 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature