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

In reply: We agree with Thurber that analyses were conducted within the framework of the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis; however, we did not conclude that “interventions to ‘improve’ birthweight would be ineffective in reducing the prevalence of diabetes”. In line with the hypothesis, we included adolescent as well as birth factors, and suggested that strategies to improve lifestyle factors in childhood and adolescence, rather than those focusing on birthweight alone, are likely to be the most effective in decreasing the incidence of type 2 diabetes.