Abstract
Death from heart attack seems to occur most often among men who were below normal weight at birth but who, as boys and later as men, caught up so that from the age of seven on, they had average or above average body mass. This suggests that catch-up growth during childhood increases the already increased risk of death from coronary heart disease associated with reduced intrauterine growth. In a study of 3,641 men born in Helsinki between 1924 and 1933 these were the results of the weight measurements done. Men who died from coronary heart disease generally had an above average body mass index at all ages from 7 to 15 years