Study: Birth weight, height can predict infants' future health

Study: Birth weight, height can predict infants' future health

The sample group showed that a low PI, where increases in height and weight are out of sync during development, was most associated with an increase in the size of the major pumping chamber of the heart, the left ventricle, which is considered a risk for future cardiovascular disease.

Two-dimensional echocardiography was used to noninvasively look at the children's left ventricle for telltale indicators of hypertrophy like thickening of the walls and less blood being pumped out. Then they studied the relationships between birth weight and birth BMI and PI and the structure and function of the left ventricle in the children.

This study found that a low PI had the highest association with risk factors for heart problems, but the more widely used BMI is also a good tool, researchers noted. "We believe our findings are a call to pediatricians to be even more diligent in measuring and noting the birth weight and length parameters," Stansfield pointed.

This very early measure of height and weight can provide lifelong insight into an individual's risk of heart and other diseases, he added.

Source: krishijagran.com

TAGS : study, birth weight, height can predict infants future health, new born baby, research, pregnancy ifairer,