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Epidemiology and Population Health

Early determinants of metabolically healthy obesity in young adults: study of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

International Journal of Obesity volume 42, pages 1704–1714 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background

A body of literature suggests a metabolically healthy phenotype in individuals with obesity. Despite important clinical implications, the early origins of metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) have received little attention.

Objective

To assess the prevalence of MHO among the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) at 31 years of age, examine its determinants in early life taking into account the sex specificity.

Methods

We studied 3205 term-born cohort participants with data available for cardio-metabolic health outcomes at 31 years, and longitudinal height and weight data. After stratifying the population by sex, adult BMI and a strict definition of metabolic health (i.e., no risk factors meaning metabolic health), we obtained six groups. Repeated childhood height and weight measures were used to model early growth and early adiposity phenotypes. We employed marginal means adjusted for mother and child covariates including socio-economic status, birth weight and gestational-age, to compare differences between the groups.

Results

The prevalence of adult MHO was 6% in men and 13.5% in women. Differences in adult metabolic status were linked to alterations in BMI and age at adiposity peak in infancy (p < 0.0003 in men and p = 0.027 in women), and BMI and age at adiposity rebound (AR) (p < 0.0001 irrespective of sex). Compared to MHO, metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) women were five and a half months younger at AR (p = 0.007) with a higher BMI while MUO men were four months older (p = 0.036) with no difference in BMI at AR.

Conclusion

At the time of AR, MHO women appeared to be older than their MUO counterparts while MHO men were younger. These original results support potential risk factors at the time of adiposity rebound linked to metabolic health in adulthood. These variations by sex warrant independent replication.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the late professor Paula Rantakallio (launch of NFBC1966), the participants in the 31yrs study and the NFBC project center. NFBC1966 received financial support from University of Oulu Grant No. 65354, Oulu University Hospital Grant No. 2/97, 8/97, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs Grant no. 23/251/97, 160/97, 190/97, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki Grant No. 54121, Regional Institute of Occupational Health, Oulu, Finland Grant No. 50621, 54231. This work was supported by Biocenter Oulu, Grant 24002964, EurHealthAgeing, Grant No. 277849, Academy of Finland, Grant 243007961 and DynaHEALTH, Grant No. 633595.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Rozenn Nedelec, Jari Jokelainen, Jouko Miettunen, Minna Männikkö, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin & Sylvain Sebert

  2. Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Rozenn Nedelec, Karl-Heinz Herzig, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin & Sylvain Sebert

  3. Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Jari Jokelainen, Karl-Heinz Herzig & Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  4. Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University, Oulu, Finland

    Jouko Miettunen & Karl-Heinz Herzig

  5. NordLab Oulu, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Oulu University Hospital, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Aimo Ruokonen

  6. Research Unit of Biomedicine, Department of Physiology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Karl-Heinz Herzig

  7. Department of Gastroenterology and Metabolism, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland

    Karl-Heinz Herzig

  8. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK

    Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  9. MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK

    Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  10. Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University, London, UK

    Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  11. Department of Genomics of Complex Diseases, School of Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK

    Sylvain Sebert

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  1. Rozenn Nedelec
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Correspondence to Marjo-Riitta Järvelin.

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Nedelec, R., Jokelainen, J., Miettunen, J. et al. Early determinants of metabolically healthy obesity in young adults: study of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Int J Obes 42, 1704–1714 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-018-0115-0

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