HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lumey, L H Articles by Stein, A D Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lumey, L H Articles by Stein, A D

In utero exposure to famine and subsequent fertility: The Dutch Famine Birth Cohort Study.

L H Lumey and A D Stein

Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that if prenatal caloric restriction due to nutritional deprivation had affected development of the organs responsible for producing and regulating female reproductive hormones, a woman's fertility would be impaired. METHODS: Women born in Amsterdam from August 1, 1944, through April 15, 1946, a period encompassing a severe 5-month famine, were identified (n = 700; 85% response rate). Date of birth and vital status of all offspring were ascertained by home interview between 1987 and 1991. Famine exposure was inferred from the mother's date of birth. RESULTS: Of the study participants, 74 (10.6%) had no children. The remainder reported 1334 off-spring (1294 singletons, 20 pairs of twins), of whom 14 were stillborn and 22 died in the first 7 days of life. There was no detectable effect of famine exposure on age at menarche, the proportion having no children, age at first delivery, or family size. An excess of perinatal deaths occurred among offspring of famine-exposed women, particularly those exposed in their third trimester. CONCLUSIONS: Acute famine exposure in utero appears to have no adverse consequences for a woman's fertility. The excess perinatal mortality in the second generation is unexplained and should be confirmed by other studies.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Lumey, A. D Stein, H. S Kahn, K. M van der Pal-de Bruin, G. Blauw, P. A Zybert, and E. S Susser Cohort Profile: The Dutch Hunger Winter Families Study Int. J. Epidemiol., December 1, 2007; 36(6): 1196 - 1204. [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Zhou, W. Zhu, Z. Guo, Y. Zhao, Z. Song, and J. Xiao Effects of maternal nuclear genome on the timing of puberty in mice offspring J. Endocrinol., June 1, 2007; 193(3): 405 - 412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. D Stein, P. A Zybert, M. van de Bor, and L. Lumey Intrauterine famine exposure and body proportions at birth: the Dutch Hunger Winter Int. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2004; 33(4): 831 - 836. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. S. Adair Size at Birth Predicts Age at Menarche Pediatrics, April 1, 2001; 107(4): e59 - e59. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				U. Ramakrishnan, H. Barnhart, D. G. Schroeder, A. D. Stein, and R. Martorell Early Childhood Nutrition, Education and Fertility Milestones in Guatemala J. Nutr., December 1, 1999; 129(12): 2196 - 2202. [Abstract] [Full Text]