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Occurance and Timing of Childhood Overweight and Mortality: Findings from the Third Harvard Growth Study
The Journal of Pediatrics, 12/23/2011
Must A et al. – The authors find evidence of long–term effects of having ever been overweight, with some evidence that incidence before puberty influences the pattern of risk.
Methods- A total of 1877 participants provided an average of 10.5 body mass index measurements between age 6 and 18 years. Based on these measurements, the participants were classified as ever overweight or ever >85th percentile for height in childhood.
- Age at peak height velocity was used to indicate timing of overweight relative to puberty.
- Relative risks of all–cause and cause–specific mortality according to measures of childhood growth were estimated using Cox proportional hazards survival analysis.
- For women, ever being overweight in childhood increased the risks of all–cause and breast cancer death; the risk of death from ischemic heart disease was increased in men.
- Men with a first incidence of overweight before puberty were significantly more likely to die from ischemic heart disease; women in the same category were more likely to die from all causes and from breast cancer.
