Association between Weight Change during Early Life and Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors among Mexican Young Adults

Objectives: Explore whether weight changes during childhood and adolescence were associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) risk factors in Mexico. Methods: Participants 18- to 25-years-old (n=4,076), Mexican college applicants in 2009, underwent a health screen and filled out questionnaires. Four major weight change categories were identified based on self-reported weight during childhood, adolescence, and currently: constantly normal (CN), weight gain who became overweight or obese (WG), constantly overweight/obese (COO), and constantly underweight (CUW). MS risk factors included systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), waist circumference (WC), fasting-glucose (FG), triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Non-parametric and regression analyses were used. Results: There were differences across weight change categories in SBP, DBP, WC, FG and TG, but not on HDL (p<0.01). Regression analyses controlling for age and sex indicated that WG and COO categories were associated with increases in SBP, DBP, WC when compared to those CN (p<0.0001). Increased FG and TG was found only among WG category (p<0.001). Being CUW was negatively associated with SBP, WC and TG (p<0.05). Among men, WG and COO were associated with higher SBP, DBP and WC (p<0.01); WG was associated with increased FG, HDL and TG (p<0.05). Among women, WG and COO were associated with higher SBP, DBP and WC (p<0.01); WG was associated with higher FG. However, there were no statistical differences on HDL and TG among women. Conclusion: Self-reported weight over the life course may provide valuable information to predict MS risk particularly in settings where longitudinal data are limited.