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. 2021;14(3):283-290.
doi: 10.1159/000515294. Epub 2021 May 12.

Birthweight, Childhood Body Mass Index, Height and Growth, and Risk of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Julie Aarestrup  1 , Dorthe C Pedersen  1 , Peter E Thomas  1 , Dorte Glintborg  2 , Jens-Christian Holm  3   4 , Lise G Bjerregaard  1 , Jennifer L Baker  1   4
Affiliations

Birthweight, Childhood Body Mass Index, Height and Growth, and Risk of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Julie Aarestrup et al. Obes Facts. 2021.

Abstract

Introduction: Adult obesity is linked with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but the importance of body size at ages before PCOS is diagnosed is unknown.

Objective: To investigate associations between a woman's own birthweight, childhood body mass index (BMI), height and growth patterns in relation to her risk of PCOS.

Methods: We included 65,665 girls from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register, born in the period 1960-1996, with information on birthweight and measured weight and height at the ages of 7-13 years. Overweight was defined using International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria. From the Danish National Patient Register, 606 women aged 15-50 years were identified. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by Cox regression analysis.

Results: Birthweight was not associated with PCOS. At the age of 7-13 years, girls with overweight had a higher risk of developing PCOS than girls without overweight; HR 2.83 (95% CI 2.34-3.42) at age 7 years and 2.99 (95% CI 2.38-3.76) at age 13 years. Furthermore, girls with overweight at both 7 and 13 years had a higher risk of developing PCOS than girls without overweight or overweight at only one age. Height was positively associated with PCOS risk at all ages. Girls who were persistently tall or changed from tall to average height had a higher risk of developing PCOS than girls with average height growth.

Conclusion: Overweight and tall stature in childhood are positively associated with PCOS risk, but birthweight is not.

Keywords: Birthweight; Body height; Body weights and measures; Child; Polycystic ovary syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Jens-Christian Holm reports obesity related services to patients and health care professionals. All other authors have no declarations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Associations between childhood BMI Z scores at the age of 7 (a) and 13 (b) years and the risk of developing polycystic ovary syndrome. The associations are stratified by birth cohort. The associations were modeled using linear splines with a knot at a Zscore of 0. The x axis is labeled with the corresponding BMI values. The grey area indicates the hazard ratios for BMI values of overweight as defined by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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