Association between handgrip strength and cardiovascular risk factors among Korean adolescents

Background It remains unclear whether muscle strength, which reduces cardiovascular (CV) risk in adults, is associated with similar protection in Asian adolescents. This study investigated the association between handgrip strength and CV health in a large Korean sample of school-age adolescents. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of adolescents aged 10-18 years (n=4,018) from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2014 and 2017. Handgrip strength was measured using a dynamometer. CV risk factors include waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose or hemoglobin A1c, and lipid levels. Logistic regression models were applied with adjustment for potential confounders. Results The mean age of participants was 14.0 years, and 53.6% were boys. Mean handgrip strength was 30.4 kg for boys and 22.0 kg for girls. Boys more frequently had high systolic blood pressure and impaired fasting glucose, whereas girls more frequently had low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that in boys only, handgrip strength was negatively associated with central obesity and hypertriglyceridemia and positively associated with higher systolic blood pressure. Conclusion Handgrip strength is independently associated with some CV risk factors only in boys.