Young Adults, Children With Overweight Have Higher Risk for VTE in Adulthood

TUESDAY, March 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Young adult and childhood overweight are determinants of the risk for venous thromboembolic events (VTE) in adult men, according to a study published online March 1 in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Lina Lilja, from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues examined the impact of high body mass index (BMI) during childhood and puberty on the risk for adult VTE and arterial thromboembolic events (ATE) in men. Data were included for 37,672 men from the BMI Epidemiology Study Gothenburg. Information on outcomes (1,683 VTE, 144 ATE, or 1,780 any first TE event) were retrieved from national registers.

The researchers found that BMI at age 8 years and pubertal BMI change were associated with VTE, independently of each other (hazard ratio for BMI at 8 years, 1.06 per standard deviation increase; hazard ratio for pubertal BMI change, 1.11 per standard deviation increase). Compared with the normal-weight reference group, a significantly increased risk for VTE in adult life was seen for individuals with normal weight during childhood followed by young adult overweight (hazard ratio, 1.40) and individuals with overweight at both childhood and young adult age (hazard ratio, 1.48). An increased risk for ATE and TE was seen for individuals with overweight in childhood and in young adult age.

"The ongoing childhood obesity epidemic may add to the burden of adult disease through the association with thromboembolism," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text