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Under-nutrition in adolescence linked to heart disease risk in later life
August 25, 2011
Older women who were under-nourished in their youth may be more likely to develop heart disease.
Women who suffered from under-nutrition during adolescence appear to face a heightened risk of heart disease in later life and may be more likely to depend on their private medical insurance as a result.
Scientists at the University Medical Centre Utrecht and the University of Amsterdam studied 7,845 women, all of whom had been 0 to 21 years of age towards the end of the second world war - a time when there were severe food shortages in parts of The Netherlands.
At that time, official daily rations for adults dropped from 1,400 calories to just 400-800 calories.
The researchers found that those who were undernourished during their adolescent years were more likely to have developed coronary heart disease in later life.
Women who were severely exposed to the famine were 38 per cent more likely to have coronary heart disease in later life than those who were only moderately exposed or not exposed at all.
Writing in the European Heart Journal, the study authors said: "Our findings support the notion that disturbed postnatal development, particularly in adolescence, can have important implications for adult health."
A spokesperson for eating disorder charity Beat told the Daily Telegraph that under-nutrition and yo-yo dieting can "certainly" have long-term consequences for people's health.
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