Overweight and obesity at age 19 after pre-natal famine exposure.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Weight for height has been used in the past as an indicator of obesity to report that prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944-1945 determined subsequent obesity. Further evaluation is needed as unresolved questions remain about the possible impact of social class differences in fertility decline during the famine and because being overweight is now defined by a Body Mass Index (BMI: kg/m²) from 25 to <30 and obesity by a BMI of 30 or more.

Methods

We studied heights and weights of 371,100 men in the Netherlands born between 1943 and 1947 and examined for military service at age 19. This group includes men with and without prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine.

Results

There was a 1.3-fold increase in the risk of being overweight or obese in

SUBMITTER: Lumey LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8310790 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature