Size At Birth Related To Hypertension Risk Later In Life

Investigators from Goteborg University and the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden studied 438 women involved in a prospective population study with blood pressure and hypertension assessment at age 50 and 60 years. Midwife records were examined to determine the women’s weight and length at birth.

“Systolic blood pressure at both age levels showed a U-shaped relationship to weight and length at birth,” the researchers report.

Weight and length at birth were significantly related to the prevalence of hypertension in 60-year-old women. The lowest birth weight quintile and the lowest birth length tertile showed significantly higher risks for hypertension at 60 years compared with those of more average weight and length.

At 50 years, these associations were not statistically significant, indicating that the relationship of low birth weight and length with hypertension becomes stronger with age, according to the researchers.

The risk of hypertension decreased by four percent for every 100 g increase in birth weight and ten percent for every added centimeter of birth length in women at 60 years of age. In 50 year old women, the decreases in risk of hypertension for added weight and length were three percent and six percent, respectively.

J Hypertens 2000; 18: 1753-1761.