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Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Children
09:45

Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Children

Published on: April 29, 2013

Cardiac autonomic functions in obese children

Mehmet Emre Taşçılar1, Mehmet Yokuşoğlu, Mehmet Boyraz

  • 1Department of Pediatrics Division of Endocrinology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.

Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology
|July 14, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Obese children show reduced heart rate variability (HRV), indicating autonomic imbalance. This autonomic dysfunction is more pronounced in insulin-resistant obese children, suggesting a role in pediatric obesity pathogenesis.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Autonomic Nervous System Function
  • Cardiovascular Physiology

Background:

  • The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a role in obesity pathophysiology.
  • Assessing ANS function through heart rate variability (HRV) is crucial in pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate autonomic system function in obese children using HRV.
  • To compare HRV parameters between obese and healthy children.
  • To investigate the association between insulin resistance and HRV in obese children.

Main Methods:

  • Thirty-two obese and 30 healthy children (mean age ~11 years) were enrolled.
  • Obesity defined by BMI >97th percentile; participants were disease- and medication-free.
  • Twenty-four-hour ambulatory ECG recordings analyzed for time- and frequency-domain HRV indices; HOMA-IR used for insulin resistance assessment.

Main Results:

  • Obese children exhibited significantly decreased HRV compared to controls across time- and frequency-domain parameters.
  • Insulin-resistant obese children showed a marked reduction in all HRV parameters compared to non-insulin-resistant obese children.

Conclusions:

  • Decreased HRV in obese children suggests parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic predominance.
  • Autonomic imbalance, particularly linked to insulin resistance, may contribute to the pathogenesis of childhood obesity.
  • HRV analysis provides insights into ANS dysfunction in pediatric obesity.
Abstract

Keywords:
Childhood obesitycardiac autonomic functionheart rate variabilitypower spectral analysistime-domain analysis

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