Relationship Between Birth Weight and the Double Product in Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood (from the Bogalusa Heart Study)

Low birth weight is associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, including heart rate and blood pressure. Therefore, we examined the hypothesis that birth weight is related to blood pressure-heart rate product (double product, DP), an index of oxygen consumption and workload of the heart, at different ages. Heart rate at rest, blood pressure at rest, and birth weight data were available in 2,340 children (4 to 11 years), 1,621 adolescents (12 to 19 years), and 2,315 adults (20 to 52 years) from the Bogalusa Heart Study (total n = 6,276). After adjustment for age, sex, race, and body mass index, gestational age-adjusted birth weight was inversely associated with DP, with per 100-g decrease in birth weight associated with an increase of 12.8, 22.9, and 23.2 beats/min × mmHg in DP in children (p = 0.016), adolescents (p = 0.0007), and adults (p = 0.0006), respectively. An amplifying trend of the association with age was observed in the total sample (p = 0.002). In conclusion, birth weight is associated with increased DP beginning in childhood, which may partly mediate the association between low birth weight and increased cardiovascular risk later in life.