2023 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 46-51
Epidemiological studies have reported that low-birth-weight infants, especially small-for-gestational age (SGA) infants, who become obese in the future are more likely to develop coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Meanwhile, in Japanese children with type 2 DM, there are relatively many cases with non-obese type 2 DM that do not cause significant obesity. Indeed, we have reported that a case of non-obese type 2 DM with a history of being an extremely preterm SGA infant without early adiposity rebound. In recent years, there have been some reports that adults with a history of preterm birth showed insulin resistance compared to those with term infants. Our hypothesis for a pathogenesis is that the hyperglycemia may be related to have less lean body mass. However, adults born with SGA show a higher frequency of obesity with visceral fat than those with appropriate-for-gestational age and large-for-gestational age. Some SGA infants, especially extremely preterm infants may be developed to type 2 DM due to high visceral fat accumulation or low lean body mass, even if they do not become severely obese.
