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Birth weight is more important for peak bone mineral content than for bone density: the PEAK-25 study of 1,061 young adult women

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Abstract

Summary

Lower birth weight has a negative association with adult BMC and body composition in young adult Swedish women.

Introduction

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of birth weight on peak bone mass and body composition in a cohort of 25-year-old women.

Methods

One thousand sixty-one women participated in this cross-sectional population-based study using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to assess bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), and body composition (total body (TB), femoral neck (FN), total hip (TH), lumbar spine L1–L4 (LS), and lean and fat mass). Birth weight data was available for 1,047 women and was categorized into tertiles of low (≤3,180 g), intermediate (3,181–3,620 g), and high (≥3,621 g) birth weight.

Results

Significant correlations were observed between birth weight and TB-BMC (r = 0.159, p < 0.001), FN-BMC (r = 0.096, p < 0.001), TH-BMC (r = 0.102, p = 0.001), LS-BMC (r = 0.095, p = 0.002), and lean mass (r = 0.215, p < 0.001). No correlation was observed between birth weight and BMD. The estimated magnitude of effect was equivalent to a 0.3–0.5 SD difference in BMC for every 1 kg difference in birth weight (151 g (TB); 0.22 g (FN); 1.5 g (TH), 2.5 kg TB lean mass). The strongest correlations between birth weight and BMC occurred in women with lowest birth weights, although excluding women who weighed <2,500 g at birth, and the correlation remained significant although slightly weaker.

Conclusions

Women with lower birth weight have lower BMC and less lean and fat mass at the age of 25, independent of current body weight. Lower birth weight has a greater negative influence on bone mass than the positive influence of higher birth weight.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (K2009-53X-14691-07-3), FAS (Grant 2007-2125), Grant Greta and Johan Kock Foundation, A Påhlsson Foundation, A Osterlund Foundation, the H Järnhardt foundation, King Gustav V and Queen Victoria Foundation, Apotekare Hedbergs Foundation, Malmö University Hospital Research Foundation, Research and Development Council of Region Skåne, Sweden, and the Swedish Medical Society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    M. Callréus, F. McGuigan & K. Åkesson

  2. Department of Orthopaedics, Skåne University Hospital, 205 02, Malmö, Sweden

    M. Callréus, F. McGuigan & K. Åkesson

Authors
  1. M. Callréus
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  2. F. McGuigan
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  3. K. Åkesson
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Correspondence to K. Åkesson.

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Callréus, M., McGuigan, F. & Åkesson, K. Birth weight is more important for peak bone mineral content than for bone density: the PEAK-25 study of 1,061 young adult women. Osteoporos Int 24, 1347–1355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-012-2077-8

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