Cardiometabolic Risk and Its Relationship With Visceral Adiposity in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Metabolic Health
• Neurology

Background:

• Adults with cerebral palsy (CP) have a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic disease.
• Research on cardiometabolic disease risk in children with CP is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if children with CP exhibit higher cardiometabolic risk than typically developing children.
• To examine the relationship between cardiometabolic risk, visceral adiposity, and physical activity in children with CP.

Main Methods:

• Compared 30 ambulatory children with CP to 30 typically developing controls.
• Assessed blood lipids, glucose, HOMA-IR, visceral fat (VFMI), and physical activity (accelerometers).

Main Results:

• Children with CP had higher cholesterol, glucose, dyslipidemia, prediabetes, and VFMI, with lower physical activity than controls.
• Non-HDL-C and glucose correlated with VFMI; Non-HDL-C and HOMA-IR correlated with physical activity.
• HOMA-IR strongly correlated with VFMI in children with CP.

Conclusions:

• Children with CP show early cardiometabolic disease markers.
• Increased visceral adiposity is more strongly linked to cardiometabolic risk than reduced physical activity in pediatric CP.