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Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System ANS Activity in Children
Published on: April 29, 2013
Comparison of Cardiovascular Parameters and Cardiac Autonomic Activity of Obese and Normal Weight School Children in
Insights
Childhood obesity increases health risks. Obese children showed higher blood pressure, but heart rate variability (HRV) differed by sex: obese boys had lower total HRV, while obese girls had higher total HRV.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Cardiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing global concern, increasing vulnerability to health issues.
- Obese children face heightened risks for various disorders, necessitating research into their physiological status.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare cardiovascular and heart rate variability (HRV) parameters in obese versus normal-weight school children.
- To investigate potential sex-based differences in cardiovascular and HRV responses to obesity in children.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 30 obese (BMI ≥ 95th percentile) and 30 normal-weight (BMI 5th-85th percentile) children aged 9-12 years.
- Assessment of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and HRV parameters using Mann Whitney U test.
- Sub-analyses were conducted to compare data between boys and girls in both obese and normal-weight groups.
Main Results:
- Obese children exhibited significantly higher SBP, DBP, and MAP compared to normal-weight children.
- No overall significant difference in HRV parameters was observed between obese and normal-weight children.
- Obese boys showed significantly higher SBP, DBP, MAP, and Rate Pressure Product (RPP), with lower total HRV. Obese girls displayed significantly higher SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, LF power, HF power, and total HRV.
Conclusions:
- Obesity in children is associated with significantly elevated blood pressure.
- While overall HRV did not differ, sex-specific patterns emerged: obese boys had reduced total HRV, whereas obese girls had increased total HRV.
- Pubertal development and its timing may differentially influence the cardiac autonomic status in obese boys and girls.
Background And Aim:
Worldwide, incidence of childhood obesity is on the rising trend and obese children are more vulnerable to various health disorders. This study was done to assess and compare the cardiovascular parameters and Heart rate variability (HRV) parameters of obese school children with children with normal Body Mass Index (BMI).
Methods:
Thirty obese children (BMI 95th percentile) aged 9-12 years and 30 age and sex matched children with normal BMI (BMI 5th to below 85th percentile) were included in test and control groups respectively. Mann Whitney U test was done to detect the difference between the two groups with respect to systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and HRV parameters. Sub-analyses were also done to compare the data of boys of control and test groups and the data of girls of control and test groups.
Results:
SBP, DBP and Mean arterial pressure (MAP) were significantly high in the test group. However, there was no significant difference between test and control groups with respect to HRV parameters. Subanalyses revealed that the obese boys had a significantly high SBP, DBP, MAP, rate pressure product (RPP) and a significantly low total HRV while the obese girls had a significantly raised SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, LF power, HF power and total HRV.
Conclusion:
The obese children had a significantly raised blood pressure. There was no difference in the HRV parameters of normal weight and obese children. However, obese boys had a significantly reduced total HRV when compared to normal weight boys while the obese girls had a significantly raised total HRV when compared to normal weight girls. The various physiological changes during puberty and the time of onset of puberty may have a varying impact on the cardiac autonomic status of obese male and female children.
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