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Birthweight and fasting glucose and insulin levels: results from the Aboriginal Birth Cohort Study

Katherine A Thurber
Med J Aust 2013; 199 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/mja13.11022
Published online: 16 December 2013

To the Editor: The hypothesis that fetal growth restriction is associated with an increased risk of chronic disease is central to the developmental origins of health and disease paradigm. Inconsistent with this general hypothesis, but consistent with the inconclusive findings from other studies of Indigenous populations,1,2 Sayers and colleagues found no significant association between fetal growth restriction (defined as low birthweight for gestational age) and chronic disease biomarkers in the Aboriginal Birth Cohort at 18 years of age.3 However, the authors observed a significant association between increasing birthweight and factors indicating an elevated diabetes risk: fasting glucose levels, fasting insulin levels (adjusted for current height),3 and body mass index.4


  • National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT.



Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. McNamara BJ, Gubhaju L, Chamberlain C, et al. Early life influences on cardio-metabolic disease risk in aboriginal populations — what is the evidence? A systematic review of longitudinal and case–control studies. Int J Epidemiol 2012; 41: 1661-1682.
  • 2. Thurber KA. Analyses of anthropometric data in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children and methodological implications [master's thesis]. Canberra: Australian National University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/9892 (accessed Nov 2013).
  • 3. Sayers SM, Mott SA, Mann KD, et al. Birthweight and fasting glucose and insulin levels: results from the Aboriginal Birth Cohort Study. Med J Aust 2013; 199: 112-116. <MJA full text>
  • 4. Sayers S, Mott S, Singh G. Fetal growth restriction and 18-year growth and nutritional status: Aboriginal Birth Cohort 1987-2007. Am J Hum Biol 2011; 23: 417-419.
  • 5. Eriksson JG, Forsen TJ, Osmond C, et al. Pathways of infant and childhood growth that lead to type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 3006-3010.

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