The aim of the study was to examine the effect of birth weight, infant nutrition, body mass and social status from early childhood and adulthood on plasma lipid levels in 192 adult subjects examined in the first three years of life (mean age 1.4 years in males and 1.3 years in females) and again as adults (mean age 19.9 years in males and 19.6 in females). According to the results obtained, total cholesterol was significantly higher in adult male subjects breast fed for the shortest period of time (p < 0.05). Those males who were leanest in the first three years of life and fattest as adults had the highest levels of total cholesterol (p = 0.03) and LDL cholesterol (p = 0.02). Birth weight had no significant influence on plasma lipid levels in adults subjects. When data on nutrition, anthropometry and social status from both age periods were included in multivariate regression analyses, the most significant predictors of higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in males were lower adult height and poor social status in early childhood, while in females they were a shorter duration of breast feeding and earlier introduction of solids.