Early-life undernutrition increases the risk of death from chronic diseases in adulthood: a population-based cohort study

作者：Mengqiu Wu, Hongrui Tian, Chuanhai Guo, Zhen Liu, Yaqi Pan, Fangfang Liu, Ying Liu, Wenlei Yang, Huanyu Chen, Zhe Hu, Mengfei Liu, Zhisong He, Ke Yang · 发表于：Global Health Research and Policy · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s41256-025-00422-0 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Birth, Development, and Health、Child Nutrition and Water Access、Nutrition and Health in Aging

Abstract Background Early-life undernutrition, particularly during critical developmental periods, may have lasting impacts on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in adulthood. The Chinese Great Famine (1959–1961) provides a unique opportunity to evaluate these effects in a large-scale population study. To investigate the impact of early-life undernutrition on adult mortality due to NCDs in individuals exposed to the Chinese Great Famine. Methods We analyzed data from a medical insurance database in Hua County, China, including 15,088 individuals born during the famine (1959–1961) and 49,924 individuals deemed unexposed because they were born after the famine (1962–1964), with follow-up from 2012 to 2023. Multivariable Cox regression and competing risks regression were used to assess the association between early-life undernutrition and mortality. Results Early-life undernutrition was associated with increased risks of all-cause mortality (HR adjusted = 1.49, 95% CI 1.37–1.62), cancer mortality (HR adjusted = 1.41, 95% CI 1.22–1.64), cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases mortality (HR adjusted = 1.51, 95% CI 1.34–1.71), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality (HR adjusted = 4.37, 95% CI 2.51–7.61). Subgroup analysis revealed that the exposed group had a higher risk of death from lung, esophageal, gastric, hepato-biliary, and pancreatic cancers, cerebrovascular disease and cardiovascular disease. Conclusions This study demonstrates the long-term adverse effects ...