Associations between live birth and cardiometabolic disease in Southwest Chinese women.

Background: China has undergone a significant socioeconomic transformation over the past few decades due to the implementation of family planning policies. These societal changes have resulted in an increased susceptibility among females to developing cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). Unfortunately, studies investigating the correlation between family planning policies in China and the incidence of CMD remain scarce.

Methods: Data from 1,226 females, aged 30 years or older with ≥ 1 live birth, undergoing routine physical examinations between January 2018 and December 2021 were collected, and they were grouped by number of live births 1, 2, and ≥ 3. A binary logistic regression model was employed to examine the association between the number of live births with CMD. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis was performed to elucidate the impact of the implementation of family planning policies with CMD.

Results: Women with live births ≥ 3 tended to be older, had higher gravidities, a greater proportion of central obesity, general obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (all P < 0.05). Across the three groups (live birth = 1, =2 and ≥ 3), the odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI for obesity were: 1.00, 3.32 (2.36-4.69), and 5.73 (3.79-8.68); for dyslipidemia were: 1.00, 1.75 (1.29-2.39), and 2.02 (1.38-2.94); and for CMD were: 1.00, 1.91 (1.44-2.54), and 2.15 (1.46-3.15), respectively (all P < 0.05). In addition, based on the different periods of the childbearing policy in China, a subgroup analysis (where age was divided into ≤ 45, 45-65, and ≥ 65 years old) found that each additional live birth increased the prevalence risk of obesity and CMD in the younger generations, while hypertension and dyslipidemia in the elder generation.

Conclusions: Higher live births are positively associated with the prevalence of CMD among women in Southwest China. Moreover, giving birth after the implementation of the one-child policy tends to have a higher risk of developing CMD.