Full-term babies with a birth weight below the 3rd percentile experience different optic nerve head morphology as they develop and may have a lower neuronal reserve for degenerative diseases in this region.
The largest clinical trial to compile information about the condition also confirmed the role cardiovascular risk factors play, but noted variance based on race and ethnicity.
After adjusting for BMI and other confounders, study suggests that social determinants of health may contribute to the condition through other mechanisms besides obesity alone.