Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

The effect of the Chinese Famine on type 2 diabetes mellitus epidemics

The Chinese Famine has been widely interpreted as an important contributor to subsequent epidemics of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our re-examination of available studies challenges this apparent relationship. The definition of famine exposure and control selection needs more attention in future studies to better understand this potential association.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Ravelli, A. C. et al. Glucose tolerance in adults after prenatal exposure to famine. Lancet 351, 173–177 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lumey, L. H., Khalangot, M. D. & Vaiserman, A. M. Association between type 2 diabetes and prenatal exposure to the Ukraine famine of 1932–1933: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 3, 787–794 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zimmet, P. Z. et al. Epidemic T2DM, early development and epigenetics: implications of the Chinese Famine. Nat. Rev. Endocrinol. 14, 738–746 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Li, C. & Lumey, L. H. Exposure to the Chinese Famine of 1959–1961 in early life and long-term health conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int. J. Epidemiol. 46, 1157–1170 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Li, J. et al. Prenatal exposure to famine and the development of hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes in adulthood across consecutive generations: a population-based cohort study of families in Suihua, China. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 105, 221–227 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kazachenka, A. et al. Identification, characterization, and heritability of murine metastable epialleles: implications for non-genetic inheritance. Cell 175, 1259–1271 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lumey, L. H. et al. Adult glucose dysregulation after severe prenatal food restriction in the Dutch Hunger Winter: only partial mediation by current body size. J. Dev. Orig. Health Dis. 8, S53 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Li, C. & Lumey, L. H. Interaction or mediation by adult obesity of the relation between fetal famine exposure and type 2 diabetes? Int. J. Epidemiol. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyy293 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Hillier, T. A. et al. Childhood obesity and metabolic imprinting: the ongoing effects of maternal hyperglycemia. Diabetes Care 30, 2287–2292 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Allard, C. et al. Mendelian randomization supports causality between maternal hyperglycemia and epigenetic regulation of leptin gene in newborns. Epigenetics 10, 342–351 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. H. Lumey.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, C., Tobi, E.W., Heijmans, B.T. et al. The effect of the Chinese Famine on type 2 diabetes mellitus epidemics. Nat Rev Endocrinol 15, 313–314 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0195-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0195-5

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing