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Pediatrics

Increase in adiposity from childhood to adulthood predicts a metabolically obese phenotype in normal-weight adults

International Journal of Obesity volume 44, pages 848–851 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Normal weight is associated with a favorable cardiometabolic risk profile and low risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, some normal-weight individuals—the “metabolically obese normal weight” (MONW)—show a cardiometabolic risk profile similar to the obese. Previous studies have shown that older age, central body fat distribution, and unfavorable lifestyle increase the risk of MONW. However, the role of early-life factors in MONW remains unknown. We examined the associations of early-life factors with adult MONW in 1178 individuals from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study who were followed up from childhood to adulthood. The strongest early predictor for adult MONW was an increase in BMI from childhood to adulthood (p = 3.1 × 10−11); each 1 SD increase in BMI z-score from childhood to adulthood led to a 2.56-fold increase in the risk of adult MONW (CI 95% = 1.94–3.38). Other significant predictors of adult MONW were male sex (OR = 2.38, 95% = 1.63–3.47, p = 7.0 × 10−6), higher childhood LDL cholesterol (OR = 1.41 per 1 SD increase in LDL cholesterol, CI 95% = 1.14–1.73, p = 0.001), and lower HDL cholesterol (OR = 1.51 per 1 SD decrease in HDL cholesterol, CI 95% = 1.23–1.85, p = 5.4 × 10−5). Our results suggest that an increase in adiposity from childhood to adulthood is detrimental to cardiometabolic health, even among individuals remaining normal weight.

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Acknowledgements

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 796143. This project was also supported by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, the Danish Council for Independent Research (grant number DFF—6110–00183), and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant numbers NNF17OC0026848 and NNF18CC0034900). The funders of the YFS study are found in Supplementary Material. AV researched data, AV and TOK wrote the manuscript. Other co-authors reviewed/edited the manuscript and contributed to data collection. AV is the guarantor of the article and takes responsibility for the contents of the article.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: O. Raitakari, T. O. Kilpeläinen

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    A. Viitasalo & T. O. Kilpeläinen

  2. Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    A. Viitasalo, N. Pitkänen, K. Pahkala & O. Raitakari

  3. Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

    A. Viitasalo, N. Pitkänen, K. Pahkala & O. Raitakari

  4. Paavo Nurmi Centre, Sports and Exercise Medicine Unit, Department of Physical Activity and Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    K. Pahkala

  5. Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland

    T. Lehtimäki

  6. Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    T. Lehtimäki

  7. Department of Medicine, University of Turku and Division of Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

    J. S. A. Viikari

  8. Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

    O. Raitakari

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  1. A. Viitasalo
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  5. J. S. A. Viikari
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  6. O. Raitakari
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Correspondence to A. Viitasalo.

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Viitasalo, A., Pitkänen, N., Pahkala, K. et al. Increase in adiposity from childhood to adulthood predicts a metabolically obese phenotype in normal-weight adults. Int J Obes 44, 848–851 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-019-0479-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-019-0479-9

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