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BMI, total and abdominal fat distribution, and cardiovascular risk factors in school-age children

Olta Gishti1, Romy Gaillard1, Busra Durmus2

  • 11] The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands [2] Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands [3] Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Pediatric Research
|February 10, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Childhood adiposity measures beyond BMI, like total and abdominal fat, are linked to cardiovascular risk factors. These measurements can help identify children with unhealthy cardiovascular profiles.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Body Composition Analysis

Background:

  • Body Mass Index (BMI) may not fully capture cardiovascular risk in children.
  • Specific measures of total body and abdominal fat may offer stronger associations with cardiovascular risk factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the independent associations of total and abdominal fat mass with cardiovascular risk factors in school-aged children.
  • To determine if detailed adiposity measures provide additional value beyond BMI in assessing pediatric cardiovascular health.

Main Methods:

  • Population-based cohort study of 6,523 children.
  • Measurements at age 6 included BMI, general and abdominal fat mass (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, ultrasound), and cardiovascular risk factors.
  • Statistical analyses examined associations conditional on BMI.

Main Results:

  • Higher fat mass percentage and abdominal fat were linked to elevated blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, insulin, and c-peptide.
  • These adiposity measures were also associated with lower left ventricular mass and HDL-cholesterol.
  • Increased childhood adiposity correlated with a higher likelihood of cardiovascular risk factor clustering, particularly for fat mass percentage.

Conclusions:

  • General and abdominal fat measures are independently associated with childhood cardiovascular risk factors, offering insights beyond BMI.
  • These specific adiposity metrics can aid in identifying children at risk for adverse cardiovascular profiles.
  • Further research into body composition is crucial for early cardiovascular risk assessment in pediatric populations.
Abstract

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