Study suggests link between diabetes and low birth weight, premature birth

NEW YORK A new study suggests that individuals who grew poorly during fetal development, or were born prematurely, develop diabetes later in life.

"Low birth weight is consistently associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in adulthood," Dr. Magnus Kaijser of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues wrote.

As reported in the journal Diabetes, researchers identified a group of subjects born prematurely or with low birth weight at four delivery units in Sweden from 1925 through 1949. The development of diabetes in these groups was compared with that seen in a similar group of subjects that had normal birth weights and were born at full term, Reuters reported.

A total of 6,425 subjects were included in the study. Of these, 2,931 were born prematurely (before the 37th week of pregnancy), and 2,176 had a low birth weight (less than 5.5 lbs.) but were born at full term.

An analysis of hospital databases indicated that 508 of the subjects were treated for diabetes during follow-up from 1987 to 2006.

The authors found that subjects who were born very prematurely (before the 32nd week of pregnancy) were 67% more likely to develop diabetes than those born at term.Similarly, birth weights that were much lower than the average weight for a given point in pregnancy increased the odds of diabetes by 76%.

"We have found that the association between low birth weight and risk for diabetes seems to be (the result of) both poor fetal growth and preterm birth," Kaijser and colleagues said.