Birth Weight and Abdominal Fat

This interesting study compared birth weight with abdominal fat in adolescents.  They found that those with lower birth weights had higher levels of abdominal fat as adolescents.  This held true after controlling for a number of factors.

The idea is that a low birth weight "programs" children to accumulate more fat during growth.  The theory is that a child facing a lack of essential nutrients while in the womb then overcompensates with nutrient acquisition during childhood.