Weight gain in infancy is associated with carotid extra-medial thickness in later childhood

- Excessive weight gain over the first 18 months of life has important consequences for later cardiovascular risk.
- We find that weight gain from birth to 18 months is associated with carotid extra-medial thickness in later childhood.
- Excessive weight gain during infancy may influence both arterial intima-media and adventitial thickening.

ObjectiveEarly life is an important period for determining future risk of cardiovascular disease. Carotid extra-medial thickness is a novel noninvasive measure that estimates arterial adventitial thickness, information concerning vascular health not captured by assessment of arterial intima-media thickness alone. We sought to determine whether fetal growth and early postnatal growth are associated with carotid extra-medial thickness in 8 year old children.MethodsCarotid extra-medial thickness was assessed by high-resolution ultrasound in 379 non-diabetic children aged 8-years, with complete data for birth weight, gestational age, early postnatal weight gain and carotid extra-medial thickness.ResultsWeight gain during infancy, from birth to 18 months of age, was significantly and positively associated with carotid EMT (11 μm per kg length-adjusted weight gain [95% CI 3, 18], P = 0.007). This association was significantly stronger in boys than girls (Pheterogeneity = 0.005). By contrast, there was no significant association between birth weight and carotid EMT (6 μm/kg birth weight [95% CI −12, 24], P = 0.51).ConclusionExcessive weight gain during infancy is associated with increased carotid extra-medial thickness, indicating that the alterations to the vasculature associated with excessive early postnatal growth likely include arterial adventitial thickening.