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IJE Advance Access originally published online on March 3, 2005
International Journal of Epidemiology 2005 34(3):649-654; doi:10.1093/ije/dyi046
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2005; all rights reserved.

Early Life Origins of Adult Health

Are early life factors responsible for international differences in adult blood pressure? An ecological study

Christopher G Owen*, Peter H Whincup and Derek G Cook

Department of Community Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 ORE, UK

* Corresponding author. Department of Community Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK. E-mail: c.owen{at}sghms.ac.uk

Background Although low birthweight has been related to higher mean blood pressure in individuals, there have been very few studies on the contribution of the ‘fetal origins hypothesis’ to international variations in mean blood pressure.

Methods Standardized data on mean blood pressure levels in adults aged 20–29 years (available from the INTERSALT study countries) were related to data on mean birthweight and infant mortality rates (IMRs) ~25 years earlier (available from the World Health Organization and the United Nations statistics for 24 of these countries).

Results Population mean systolic pressure was inversely correlated with IMR (r = –0.66, P < 0.001) and positively correlated with mean birthweight (r = 0.36, P = 0.108). These correlations were little affected by adjustment either for current body mass index or for current sodium, potassium, and alcohol intake.

Conclusions The directions of these associations suggest that low mean birthweight and high infant mortality are not important determinants of high population mean adult blood pressure levels.

Keywords Blood pressure, birthweight, infant mortality

Accepted 25 January 2005


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