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Examining Birth Weight, Later Health

he Nurses’ Health Study has been a fountain of ongoing

findings related to women’s health. In the September 15, 1996, issue of Circulation, a report on birth

weight and the development of risk factors later in life was pub- lished from this study. The birth weights of approximately 92,000 women who were full-term births

were matched with their later life health status.

Women who weighed more than 10 pounds at birth were at a 62-percent higher risk of obesity in midlife than those who weighed less than 8.5 pounds at birth. Those who weighed less than 5.5 pounds were at a 40-percent greater risk of hypertension develop- ing in later life than those who weighed 7.1 to 8.5 pounds.

Women who were over- weight were more likely to have mothers who were over- weight; however, high birth weight increased the likeli- hood of obesity later in life even when the women’s moth- ers were in a mid-weight

Recognizing A. B. U. S. E. o help nursing students under- T stand and recognize the far-

reaching impact and implications abuse has on our society, faculty at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, NE, have developed a course centered around the acronym for teaching within their curriculum.

A.B.U.S.E.-Awareness, Beliefs, Understanding, Strategies, and Empowerment-blends the faculty of diverse programs in courses of personal interest to women’s stud- ies. The course explores the concept of human abuse across the lifespan as it relates to women from a psy- chosocial and health perspective. Students hear from a wide-range of speakers, including the YWCA’s Women Against Domestic Violence group, Omaha Adult Protective Services, persons from local women’s shelters, treatment centers

for male perpetrators, and women who have had personal experiences with violence.

Faculty members incorporate ser- vice learning by encouraging stu- dents to establish relationships with community agencies, write a “state- ment of rights” that expresses a set of beliefs and values regarding the rights of women and children, and elaborate on a set of actions that can flow from these efforts.

Students are challenged to iden- tify perceptions that can influence community values; analyze the cost of abusive behaviors in terms of employment, health care, parent- ing, and mental health; and reflect on their personal responsibility in promoting abuse-free environ- ments.-Sbaron R. Redding, R N , MN, and co-instructor of the course with Sr. Catherine Kuper, psychologist.

group. It’s important to realize that most (97 percent) of the obese women in this study were of nor- mal weight at birth; therefore, other factors are influencing ohesi- ty. Also, only 10 percent of the infants were low-weight infants (less than 5.5 pounds), and more than 25 percent of adults in this country have hypertension. T ~ L I S , birth weight certainly is on ly one factor to consider.

Nurses can do much to help women understand the im po r t a nce , however, of healthful nutrition, regular prenatal care, and appro- priate weight gain in pregnancy. Teaching the woman about the possible relationship between birth weight and later development of health problems, and providing ways to healthful pregnancy, are ways to enhance the health of future generations (Harvard Women’s Health Watch, IV(4) , Oct. 1996, p. 7).-Ellis Quinn Youngkin, PhD, R N C , OGNP

More on HRT.. .

11 a recent issue of IouI-naI of the I American Medical Association (IAMA, 1997;277:1140), Massachusetts researchers have shed a little more light around the question regarding whether women considered at risk tor breast cancer should take hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Dr. Nananda Col, of Tufts University, and colleagues, have developed a model that predicts that women with at least one risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), coupled with first-degree relatives with breast cancer, should still benefit in the longer term from HRT, indicating that HRT increases overall life expectancies for women because of the dramatic cuts in coronary heart disease risks. However, the model also predicted that women without first-degree risk factors for CHD and osteo- porosis and who have two first- degree relatives with breast cancer should forgo HRT. +

-Compiled and edited by Carolyn Davis Cockey

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