Healthy Aboriginal babies proves a weighting game
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Low birthweight in Aboriginal people is significantly associated with higher blood pressure in adult life, according to research published in the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
The study, conducted by Dr Gurmeet Singh, Menzies School of Health Research, and Wendy Hoy, Director, Chronic Disease Centre at the University of Queensland, used data from a community-wide screening program carried out between January 1992 and October 1998. From this program, birthweights of 767 Aboriginal people aged from 7 to 43 years were retrieved, and associations between birthweight and current blood pressure examined.
This association between low birthweight and high blood pressure is important, because of the high rates of low birthweight in remote Aboriginal communities and the detrimental effects of high blood pressure on the chronic diseases that Aboriginal people are experiencing in epidemic proportions.
"The current epidemic of chronic disease appears, in part, to be a legacy of survival of low birthweight babies who, before the 1960s, would not have survived to adulthood," Dr Singh said.
"Public health interventions should focus on improving birthweights and on weight control in adolescents and adults," she said.
Among overweight and normal weight Aboriginal people, those with low birthweights had higher blood pressures than those with normal birthweights.
"Encouraging a healthy lifestyle, with well balanced diets and regular exercise to contain weight gain in adult life, must be given priority," Dr Singh said.
Special attention should be paid to children with low birthweight to avoid their becoming overweight in adult life.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT: Dr Gurmeet Singh 08 8922 8006 / 0418 618 751
Judith Tokley, AMA 02 6270 5471 / 0408 824 306