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Updated: May 1, 2026
Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System ANS Activity in Toddlers - Resting and Developmental Challenges
Published on: February 25, 2016
Latino children's body mass index at 2-3.5 years predicts sympathetic nervous system activity at 5 years
Abbey Alkon1, Kim G Harley, Torsten B Neilands
11 School of Nursing, University of California , San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
Insights
Childhood obesity may impact the developing autonomic nervous system (ANS). Specifically, higher BMI in early childhood was linked to reduced sympathetic nervous system activity later on.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health
- Autonomic nervous system research
- Childhood obesity studies
Background:
- Investigating the bidirectional relationship between autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses and body mass index (BMI) in young children.
- Examining if standardized BMI (zBMI) predicts ANS reactivity or vice versa.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the association between zBMI at ages 2, 3.5, and 5 years and ANS reactivity at ages 3.5-5 years.
- To ascertain whether zBMI predicts later ANS reactivity or if early ANS reactivity predicts later zBMI.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 112 low-income, primarily Latino children.
- Assessed zBMI, maternal BMI, child health behaviors, and ANS reactivity (sympathetic and parasympathetic) at multiple time points.
- Utilized structural equation models to analyze the predictive relationships.
Main Results:
- No cross-sectional association found between zBMI and ANS reactivity.
- Children with higher zBMI or significant zBMI increases at younger ages showed decreased sympathetic activity at 5 years.
- Early ANS reactivity did not predict later zBMI.
Conclusions:
- Elevated zBMI in early childhood may lead to dampened sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responses in later childhood.
- Findings suggest a potential impact of childhood obesity on physiological regulatory systems.
Background:
To understand whether the relationship between young children's autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses predicted their BMI, or vice versa, the association between standardized BMI (zBMI) at 2, 3.5, and 5 years of age and ANS reactivity at 3.5-5 years of age, and whether zBMI predicts later ANS reactivity or whether early ANS reactivity predicts later zBMI, was studied.
Methods:
Low-income, primarily Latino children (n=112) were part of a larger cohort study of mothers recruited during early pregnancy. Study measures included maternal prenatal weight, children's health behaviors (i.e., time watching television, fast food consumption, and time playing outdoors), children's height and weight at 2, 3.5, and 5 years, and children's ANS reactivity at 3.5 and 5 years. ANS measures of sympathetic nervous system (i.e., pre-ejection period) and parasympathetic nervous system (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia) activity were monitored during rest and four challenges. Reactivity was calculated as the difference between mean challenge response and rest. Structural equation models analyzed the relationship between children's zBMI at 2, 3.5, and 5 years and ANS reactivity at 3.5 and 5 years, adjusting for mother's BMI, children's behaviors, and changes in height.
Results:
There was no association between zBMI and ANS cross-sectionally. Children with high zBMI at 2 or 3.5 years or large zBMI increases from 2 to 3.5 years of age had decreased sympathetic activity at 5 years. Neither sympathetic nor parasympathetic reactivity at 3.5 years predicted later zBMI.
Conclusions:
Increased zBMI early in childhood may dampen young children's SNS responses later in life.
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