Obesogenic dietary intake in families with 1-year-old infants at high and low obesity risk based on parental weight status: baseline data from a longitudinal intervention (Early STOPP)

PURPOSE: To compare dietary intake in 1-year-old infants and their parents between families with high and low obesity risk, and to explore associations between infant dietary intake and relative weight. METHODS: Baseline analyses of 1-year-old infants (n = 193) and their parents participating in a longitudinal obesity intervention (Early STOPP) were carried out. Dietary intake and diet quality indicators were compared between high- and low-risk families, where obesity risk was based on parental weight status. The odds for high diet quality in relation to parental diet quality were determined. Associations between measured infant relative weight and dietary intake were examined adjusting for obesity risk, socio-demographics, and infant feeding. RESULTS: Infant dietary intake did not differ between high- and low-risk families. The parents in high-risk families consumed soft drinks, French fries, and low-fat spread more frequently, and fish and fruits less frequently (p < 0.05) compared to parents in low-risk families. Paternal intake of vegetables and fish increased the odds for children being consumers of vegetables (OR 1.7; 95 % CI 1.0-2.9) and fish, respectively (OR 2.5; 95 % CI 1.4-4.4). Infant relative weight was weakly associated with a high intake of milk cereal drink (r = 0.15; p < 0.05), but not with any other aspect of dietary intake, obesity risk, or early feeding patterns. CONCLUSIONS: At the age of one, dietary intake in infants is not associated with family obesity risk, nor with parental obesogenic food intake. Milk cereal drink consumption but no other infant dietary marker reflects relative weight at this young age.published_or_final_versio

Birth weight is associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk in Swedish women

There is some evidence that birth weight is associated with breast cancer. Whether this association differs between premenopausal and postmenopausal ages is still unclear. The results from this study suggest that higher birth weight is a risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer (OR 1.06, CI 1.00-1.12, per 100 g), independent of selected early-life and adult factors

Birth characteristics and risk of colorectal cancer: a study among Swedish twins

Type-2 diabetes increases the risk of colorectal cancer, and is also associated with low birth weight. However, we found no evidence of associations between birth characteristics and risk of colorectal cancer (m=248) among Swedish twins

Spatial temporal patterns in childhood leukaemia: further evidence for an infectious origin. EUROCLUS project.

The EUROCLUS project included information on residence at diagnosis for 13351 cases of childhood leukaemia diagnosed in the period 1980-89 in defined geographical regions in 17 countries. A formal algorithm permits identification of small census areas as containing case excesses. The present analysis examines spatial-temporal patterns of the cases (n = 970) within these clustered areas. The objectives were, first, to compare these results with those from an analysis conducted for UK data for the period 1966-83, and, second, to extend them to consider infant leukaemias. A modification of the Knox test investigates, within the small areas, temporal overlap between cases in a subgroup of interest at a putative critical time and all other cases at any time between birth and diagnosis. Critical times were specified in advance as follows: for cases of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia aged 2-4 years, the 18-month period preceding diagnosis; for cases of total leukaemia aged 5-14 years, 1 year before to 1 year after birth; and for infant cases (diagnosed < 1 year), 1 year before to 6 months after birth. Each of the analyses found evidence of excess space-time overlap compared with that expected; these were 10% (P = 0.005), 15% (P= 0.0002) and 26% (P= 0.03) respectively. The results are interpreted in terms of an infectious origin of childhood leukaemia

Alpha-foetoprotein in umbilical cord in relation to severe pre-eclampsia, birth weight and future breast cancer risk

Women born after pre-eclamptic pregnancies have been reported to be at reduced risk of breast cancer as adults, because of reduced intrauterine oestrogen influence on breast tissue; high levels of α-foetoprotein (a glycoprotein with anti-oestrogenic properties), however, could also be important. In severe pre-eclampsia, placental function and foetal growth are reduced, and umbilical cord plasma levels of α-foetoprotein could reflect the underlying processes. Umbilical cord blood was collected in 12 804 consecutive deliveries. Among 307 pregnancies with clinical pre-eclampsia, 66 singleton pregnancies were identified as clinically severe, and 610 singleton pregnancies were selected as controls. Oestradiol and α-foetoprotein were measured from umbilical plasma, and birth weight was standardized as the ratio between the observed and expected birth weight, adjusted for differences in gestation length and offspring sex. Cord plasma levels of α-foetoprotein were significantly higher in severe pre-eclampsia than controls (P<0.01) after adjustment for gestational age and birth weight. For oestradiol, there was no difference in cord plasma levels between the severe pre-eclampsia group and controls, after adjustment for length of gestation and birth weight. These results suggest that an anti-oestrogenic effect associated with pre-eclampsia may be mediated through high levels of α-foetoprotein rather than low levels of oestradiol