Obesity and type 2 diabetes risk in Mid Adult Life: The role of Childhood Adversity

Examining the Impact of Childhood Adversity on Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. Children who are abused as children are more likely to have poor physical healthin adulthood, but less is known about other forms of childhood adversity, such as neglect and familyissues, or how these affect adult health and illness. Childhood adversity has been linked to obesity andglucose control in middle adulthood, taking into account childhood characteristics and whether theassociations are mediated by adult health behaviors and socioeconomic status. METHODS. 9310 peopleborn in 1958 in Britain participated in a 45-year-old biomedical interview as part of a prospectivelongitudinal research. Glycosylated hemoglobin level of ≥6 was a primary endpoint, as well as overallobesity, central obesity, and total obesity at 45 years. RESULTS. Several adversities elevated the chanceof obesity by 20 to 50 percent. Physical abuse, for example, had the greatest links to obesity and hadglycosylated hemoglobin levels of ≥6, although these links could mostly be explained by adult mediatorslike adiposity. It was shown that early socioeconomic characteristics accounted for the effects of lesssevere emotional neglect and home environment. Adversity in childhood may lead to obesity in maturity,which can lead to type 2 diabetes later in life. Adversities, the social environment in which they arise,and the pathways from adversity to adult illness all require more study.