Early Life Famine Exposure, Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics, and Risk of Incident Diabetes: Findings From the 4C Study

OBJECTIVE: We aim to investigate the impact of ideal cardiovascular health metrics (ICVHMs) on the association between famine exposure and adulthood diabetes risk. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This study included 77,925 participants from the China Cardiometabolic Disease and Cancer Cohort (4C) Study who were born around the time of the Chinese Great Famine and free of diabetes at baseline. They were divided into three famine exposure groups according to the birth year, including nonexposed (1963-1974), fetal exposed (1959-1962), and childhood exposed (1949-1958). Relative risk regression was used to examine the associations between famine exposure and ICVHMs on diabetes. RESULTS: for interaction = 0.0005). The increased risk was observed in fetal-exposed participants with one or fewer ICVHMs (RR 1.59 [95% CI 1.24-2.04]), but not in those with two or more ICVHMs. CONCLUSIONS: The increased risk of diabetes associated with famine exposure appears to be modified by the presence of ICVHMs.