ARS | Publication request: EARLY ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASURES AND REPRODUCTIVE FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF BODY MASS INDEX AND OBESITY AMONG OLDER WOMEN

Submitted to: Obesity Research
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 1, 2004
Publication Date: October 1, 2004
Citation: Newby, P., Dickman, P.W., Adami, H., Wolk, A. 2004. Early anthropometric measures and reproductive factors as predictors of body mass index and obesity among older women [abstract]. Obesity Research. 12(Suppl):A228.

Technical Abstract: Our objective was to examine whether early anthropometric measures and reproductive factors were associated with body mass index (BMI), overweight, and obesity. This was a cross-sectional, observational study including 18,109 healthy women aged 49-83 y who participated in the Swedish Mammography Cohort in 1997. Early anthropometric (birthweight and body shape at age 10 y) and reproductive (age at menarche, age at the birth of the first child, and parity) variables were our exposures and current body mass index (BMI), overweight (BMI 25-29.99), and obesity (BMI >30) were our outcomes. In multivariate adjusted polytomous logistic regression analysis, risk of overweight and obesity increased with increasing body shape and decreased with increasing age at menarche and age at first birth (P for trend >0.0001). For all variables, the magnitude of risk was greater for obesity than for overweight. In our tests for effect modification, we detected significant interactions between age and body shape at 10 y (P < 0.0001); smoking and age at first birth (P = 0.02); physical activity and body shape at 10 y (P < 0.0001); and physical activity and parity (P = 0.004). Risk of overweight/obesity (ow/ob; BMI >/= 25) increased with increasing childhood body shape, and the magnitude of risk was significantly greater for women in the two older age groups. The increased risk of ow/ob by women who reported a larger childhood body shape was reduced as women moved from the lowest to highest quartile of physical activity in adulthood. Likewise, the increasing risk of ow/ob among women with greater parity was reduced with increased physical activity. We conclude that early anthropometric measures and reproductive factors are significantly associated with BMI, overweight, and obesity among older women. The effects of childhood body weight, age at first birth, and parity may be modified by adult lifestyle choices, as well as age.