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. 2010 Dec;31(24):3063-72.
doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehq355. Epub 2010 Oct 23.

Adiposity and cardiovascular risk factors in a large contemporary population of pre-pubertal children

Emanuela Falaschetti  1 , Aroon D Hingorani, Alexander Jones, Marietta Charakida, Nicholas Finer, Peter Whincup, Debbie A Lawlor, George Davey Smith, Naveed Sattar, John E Deanfield
Affiliations

Adiposity and cardiovascular risk factors in a large contemporary population of pre-pubertal children

Emanuela Falaschetti et al. Eur Heart J. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Aims: to examine the associations of several markers of adiposity and a wide range of cardiovascular risk factors and biomarkers in pre-pubertal children.

Methods and results: four measures of adiposity,body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-determined fat mass, and leptin concentration, were available in up to 7589 children aged 8.8-11.7 (9.9 mean) years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Thirteen per cent of boys and 18.8% of girls were overweight, and 5.3% of boys and 5% of girls were obese. Body mass index was highly correlated with waist circumference (r = 0.91), DXA fat mass (r = 0.87), and leptin concentration (r = 0.75), and all had similar associations with cardiovascular risk factors. A 1 kg/m(2) greater BMI was associated with 1.4 mmHg (95% CI 1.25-1.44) higher systolic blood pressure (BP). In 5002 children, a 1 kg/m(2) greater BMI was associated with a 0.05 mmol/L (95% CI 0.036-0.055) higher non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and 0.03 mmol/L (95% CI -0.034 to -0.025) lower HDL cholesterol. There were also graded associations with apolipoproteins A1 and B, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein. Comparing children who were obese with those who were normal weight, the odds ratio for hypertension was 10.7 (95% CI 7.2-15.9) for boys and 13.5 (95% CI 9.4-19.5) for girls.

Conclusion: in pre-pubertal UK children, overweight/obesity is common and has broadly similar associations with BP, HDL cholesterol, and non-HDL cholesterol to those observed in adults. Future research should evaluate whether effective interventions to maintain healthy weight in childhood could have important benefits for adult cardiovascular risk.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Body mass index distribution by sex : (A) males; (B) females. Lines for overweight and obese are approximations, as the cutoffs are not fixed but age–height specific.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Vascular risk factors vs. body mass index. (A) Blood pressure mean and confidence intervals for body mass index groups of 2.5 kg/m2. (B) Blood cholesterol mean and confidence intervals for body mass index groups of 2.5 kg/m2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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