Socioeconomic status in children tied to MetS in adulthood
(HealthDay)—Family socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood is associated with the risk for metabolic syndrome (MetS) and glucose abnormalities in adulthood, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in Diabetes Care.
Elina Puolakka, Ph.D., from the University of Turku in Finland, and colleagues followed 2,250 participants from the longitudinal Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study cohort (ages 3 to 18 years at baseline) for 31 years. They characterized SES as reported annual income of the family.
The researchers found that after adjustment for age, sex, childhood cardiometabolic risk factors, childhood physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption, for each one-unit increase in family SES in childhood, there was a decrease in the risk for adult MetS (risk ratio, 0.94). After adjustment for participants' own SES in adulthood, the correlation persisted (risk ratio, 0.95). There was a similar correlation between childhood SES and the risk of having adult impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or type 2 diabetes (risk ratio, 0.96); after adjustment for childhood risk factors, the correlation was no longer significant.
"Lower SES in childhood may be associated with an increased risk for MetS, IFG, and type 2 diabetes in adulthood," the authors write. "Special attention could be paid to children of low SES families to decrease the prevalence of MetS in adulthood."
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