TY - JOUR

T1 - Childhood growth and risk of inflammatory bowel disease

T2 - a population-based study of 317,030 children

AU - Mendall, Michael

AU - Jensen, Camilla B.

AU - Ängquist, Lars H.

AU - Baker, Jennifer L.

AU - Jess, Tine

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Background: Growth in childhood is associated with later development of autoimmune diseases and cancer, but the impact of growth on risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unknown. We conducted a population-based cohort study to examine whether birth weight, childhood height, or changes in height associated with later risk of IBD. Methods: Our cohort consisted of 317,030 children from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register (born 1930–1989) with height repeatedly measured from age 7 to 13 and with data on birth weight on a subset. Through linkage to the Danish National Patients Register, cases of IBD were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine associations between measures of childhood growth and risk of IBD. Results: During more than 9 million years of follow-up, 1612 individuals were diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 2,640 with ulcerative colitis (UC). Birth weight and childhood heights were not associated with subsequent risk of CD or UC (HRs close to 1.00). Childhood growth from 7 to 10 years (CD: HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.85–1.18; UC: HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.81–1.05) and 10 to 13 years (CD: HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.89–1.17; UC: HR, 0.95; 0.85–1.05) did not associate with risk of IBD either. Conclusion: In this large population-based cohort study, birth weight and childhood growth did not influence risk of IBD, which contrasts with observations in other chronic diseases. Thereby, the study also suggests that pre-clinical effects of adult IBD are not measurable in childhood and that childhood risk factors for IBD do not influence growth.

AB - Background: Growth in childhood is associated with later development of autoimmune diseases and cancer, but the impact of growth on risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unknown. We conducted a population-based cohort study to examine whether birth weight, childhood height, or changes in height associated with later risk of IBD. Methods: Our cohort consisted of 317,030 children from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register (born 1930–1989) with height repeatedly measured from age 7 to 13 and with data on birth weight on a subset. Through linkage to the Danish National Patients Register, cases of IBD were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine associations between measures of childhood growth and risk of IBD. Results: During more than 9 million years of follow-up, 1612 individuals were diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 2,640 with ulcerative colitis (UC). Birth weight and childhood heights were not associated with subsequent risk of CD or UC (HRs close to 1.00). Childhood growth from 7 to 10 years (CD: HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.85–1.18; UC: HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.81–1.05) and 10 to 13 years (CD: HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.89–1.17; UC: HR, 0.95; 0.85–1.05) did not associate with risk of IBD either. Conclusion: In this large population-based cohort study, birth weight and childhood growth did not influence risk of IBD, which contrasts with observations in other chronic diseases. Thereby, the study also suggests that pre-clinical effects of adult IBD are not measurable in childhood and that childhood risk factors for IBD do not influence growth.

KW - Birth weight

KW - childhood growth

KW - height

KW - inflammatory bowel disease

U2 - 10.1080/00365521.2019.1635201

DO - 10.1080/00365521.2019.1635201

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31294613

AN - SCOPUS:85068789760

VL - 54

SP - 863

EP - 868

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology

SN - 0036-5521

IS - 7

ER -