Birth weight and body fat distribution in adolescent girls

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between birth weight and body fat distribution in a group of adolescent girls. DESIGN A total of 216 white girls who were born in Southampton had their heights, weights, waist and hip circumferences, and skinfold thicknesses measured when they were aged between 14 and 16 years. RESULTS The girls who were smallest at birth, but who were fattest at time of measurement were the most centrally obese. In girls whose body mass index was above the median (21 kg/m2), the subscapular to triceps skinfold ratio rose by 9% for every kilogram decrease in birth weight. Among overweight girls, with a body mass index over 25, the ratio rose by 27% for every kilogram decrease in birth weight. CONCLUSION In adolescent girls, the tendency to store fat on the trunk rather than the limbs, seems to be programmed by growth in fetal life, and is most evident in those who are overweight.