Obesity is known to be associated with thromboembolism. Does being overweight during childhood and adolescence contribute to the risk of thromboembolism at an older age? A study from the University of Gothenburg, which sought to ascertain this has found that being overweight in childhood and early adulthood significantly predisposes to formation of arterial and venous clots in the future.¹

This study examined data of 37,672 men from the BMI Epidemiology Study (BEST); information about their weight and height at 8 (childhood) and 20 years (young adulthood) including pubertal change in BMI was collected. Data on occurrence of thromboembolic event up to age 62 (average) was obtained from the Swedish National Registers – 1683 venous thromboembolisms (VTE), 144 arterial thromboembolisms (ATE) and 1780 any first thromboembolic event, whether VTE or ATE. Individuals who had normal weight at 8 and 20 years of age acted as controls.

Results published in the Journal of Internal Medicine show that compared with the normal weight reference group, high BMI at 8 years and 20 years had an independent association with VTE, either DVT or PE, with a hazard ratio of 1.06 per standard deviation (SD) increase and 1.11 per SD increase, respectively.

Those who had normal healthy weight as children but later became overweight as young adults were at an increased risk of venous clots later on with HR of 1.40. The risk was higher among those who were overweight during childhood and in early adulthood with HR of 1.48. The association was non-significant for those who were overweight as children but had normal weight as young adults.

Individuals who were overweight in childhood and in young adulthood also increased the risk of arterial clots.

These findings illustrate a strong association of overweight in early adulthood and modest association of overweight during childhood with the risk of VTE meaning that being overweight as young adults had a greater impact on the future risk of VTE than being overweight as children. The pubertal BMI change was also strongly associated with the risk of VTE in adult men. 

Reference

1. Lilja L, et al. Overweight in childhood and young adulthood increases the risk for adult thromboembolic events. J Intern Med. 2023 Mar 1. doi: 10.1111/joim.13617.