Background: Birth weight could be a medium-term risk factor in the development of overweight and obesity and a long-term risk factor of cardio-metabolic diseases.
Objective: To evaluate the association between birth weight and cardio-metabolic risk factors in children from Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1,282 children between five and eleven years of age in Bucaramanga. Dependent variables: arterial hypertension, arterial prehypertension, overweight/obesity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia. The main independent variable: birth weight (grams). The association between the independent and dependent variables was evaluated through logistic and multiple linear regression. Data analysis was performed using Stata v. 12.0 software.
Results: The overweight prevalence (overweight or obesity) was 22.93% (95% CI 20.64%-25.33%), while the low birth weight prevalence was 3.70% (95% CI 2.65%-5.00%). The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor was overweight, followed by high LDL-cholesterol levels (17.24%, 95% CI 15.20-19.41%). Following an adjustment by age, sex, socioeconomic level and physical activity and obstetric maternal history, overweight, BMI Z-scores for age and systolic blood pressure had a statistically significant association with birth weight (OR: 1.44; 95% CI 1.10-1.89; p = 0.006, β= 0.23, 95% CI: 0.10-0.36, p = 0.001 and β= 1.18, CI 95%: 0.24-2.12, p = 0.013, respectively).
Conclusions: Children with higher birth weight showed more likely to develop overweight or obesity during childhood.