Size at birth is associated with blood pressure but not insulin resistance in 6–8 year old children in rural Nepal

Earlier, we reported that antenatal micronutrient supplementation reduced the risk of metabolic syndrome and microalbuminuria among offspring at 6–8 years of age in rural Nepal. In the same birth cohort, we examined associations of size at birth (weight, length and ponderal index), and gestational age, with cardiometabolic risk factors in childhood across all antenatal micronutrient interventions. There was an inverse association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure (SBP, β = −1.20 mm Hg/kg; 95% confidence interval (CI): −1.93, −0.46) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP, β = −1.24 mm Hg/kg; 95% CI: −2.00, −0.49). Current child body mass index was positively associated with SBP but not with DBP. Birth weight was unassociated with insulin resistance, but each kilogram of increase was associated with a reduced risk of high triglycerides (odds ratio (OR) = 0.64/kg; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.97) and an increased risk of high waist circumference (OR = 3.16/kg; 95% CI: 2.47, 4.41). In this rural Nepalese population of children 6–8 years of age with a high prevalence of undernutrition, size at birth was inversely associated with blood pressure and triglycerides and positively associated with waist circumference.