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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1339808

Markers of chronic disease risk in term low birthweight Indian children aged 8-14 years

Provisionally accepted
Yamini Gusain Yamini Gusain 1,2Anku Malik Anku Malik 2Suzanne Filteau Suzanne Filteau 3Renuka Pathak Renuka Pathak 2Harshpal Singh Sachdev Harshpal Singh Sachdev 4Geeta Trilok-Kumar Geeta Trilok-Kumar 2,5*
  • 1 Department of Home Science, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
  • 2 Institute of Home Economics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
  • 3 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, London, London, United Kingdom
  • 4 Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
  • 5 Ashoka University, Sonepat, Haryana, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is a public health problem in India with consequences in the short and long term. It increases the risk of obesity and its related comorbidities including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in later life. This study aimed to assess the risk markers of chronic disease in term born low birthweight Indian children aged 8-14 years. Methods: This was a cross-sectional follow-up of LBW children from DIVIDS (Delhi Infant Vitamin D Supplementation) cohort and involved assessment of their anthropometric measurements, body composition, levels of adipokines and biomarkers of chronic diseases. Neighbourhood children born normal birth weight (NBW) (>2.5 kg) were enrolled for comparison.The study included 667 LBW and 87 NBW children. Height-for-age, body mass index for-age (BMIZ), fat-free mass index, and waist circumference of LBW children were lower than those of NBW children. LBW children could jump farther. LBW children who were now overweight had higher leptin, triglyceride and VLDL and lower HDL, compared to NBW children in the same BMIZ category. Currently underweight LBW children had higher adiponectin and lower leptin levels than the reference group. There were no differences between LBW and NBW children in visfatin, fasting glucose and insulin, hemoglobin A1c, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein or C-reactive protein.At 8-14 years few children were overweight and there were few differences in some risk markers of chronic disease between LBW and NBW children. Overweight, which was associated with some increased risk markers, may increase with age, thus timely counselling and monitoring of these LBW children will be important to mitigate these risks.

    Keywords: Chronic Disease, biomarkers, low birth weight, Children, India

    Received: 16 Nov 2023; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gusain, Malik, Filteau, Pathak, Singh Sachdev and Trilok-Kumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Geeta Trilok-Kumar, Institute of Home Economics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110016, National Capital Territory of Delhi, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.