The Relationship between the Waist Circumference and Increased Carotid Intima Thickness in Obese Children

This study aimed to evaluate the cardiometabolic risk factors in normotensive obese and hypertensive obese (HT-obese) children by comparison of anthropomorphic measurements, fat distribution, carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), and inflammatory markers. Fifty-three obese patients 10-18 years of age with a BMI-for-age/gender >95th percentile and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers enrolled in the study. Obese patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of hypertension (HT), as follows: HT-obese subgroup (n = 30) and nonhypertensive obese (non-HT-obese) subgroup (n = 23). Weight standard deviation score (SDS), BMI-SDS, waist circumference (WC) SDS, and the fat tissue z-score were significantly higher (p < 0.001 for all) in the obese patients than the control groups. Obese patients had higher 24-hour systolic blood pressure (SBP) SDS and leptin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-6 levels. Furthermore, CIMT and CIMT-SDS were significantly higher in them. HT-obese patients (n = 30) had significantly higher WC-SDS and lower serum leptin and adiponectin levels than those of non-HT-obese group (n = 23). Finally, an association between increased CIMT-SDS and WC-SDS (β = 0.399, p = 0.002) and 24-hour SBP-SDS (β = 0.272, p = 0.009) was shown. Association between increased WC and HT implies the importance of central obesity in atherosclerosis. We concluded that WC measurement could be used to define risk groups since it is related to cardiometabolic complications.