(P07-020-23) Birth Weight: An Identity Card for Metabolic Diseases?

Objectives: According to the Barker Hypothesis, inadequate nutrient intake during gestation can lead to low birth weight of the infants, who may have their lives paved by potential metabolic disorders. The inability to meet the metabolic needs of the foetus leads to epigenetic changes to store more energy and counteract malnutrition. This mechanism can be a problem if nutrients become sufficient after birth.

Based on this hypothesis, this study is intended to verify the impact of birth weight in children and adolescents with different medical conditions: metabolic syndrome, coeliac disease, Down’s syndrome, and controls.

Methods: The study consists in a retrospective collection of clinical and nutritional information on children affering to a University hospital. One-hundred children and adolescents (44 males and 56 females, with ages ranging from ten months to eighteen years) were considered and divided into five groups according to their conditions: 20 children with coeliac disease; 20 with metabolic syndrome (diabetes, overweight, liver steatosis); 10 with Down’s syndrome associated with metabolic syndrome; 10 with Down’s syndrome associated with coeliac disease; and 40 children with self-limiting and resolving illnesses (e.g. acute infections), who represent the control group. Besides birth weight, other conditions such as familiar predisposition, use of breast or formula feeding, type of weaning, time of gluten introduction, and adequacy in caloric intake were analyzed as possible determinants of the children’s growth trends.

Results: Low birth weight was found to influence the growth of children who developed metabolic alterations (35% or the children; p value 0.038). The children with metabolic syndrome and the lowest birth weights were those who experienced the greatest weight increases during the first years of life. Excessive caloric intake reinforced body weight growth in celiac-disease children on gluten-free diet (p < 0.001) as well as in the control group (p < 0.001). Baby-led weaning appeared to sustain an appropriate growth rate in Down’s Syndrome children (p 0.002).

Conclusions: Birth weight may be a hallmark of high risk for metabolic dysfunctions, suggesting that low-birth-weight children’s growth rates should be systematically monitored during their first years of life.

Funding Sources: No funding sources received