scholarly journals Overweight/Obese Schoolchildren with Low Muscle Strength Have a Lower Cardiorespiratory Capacity and Greater Cardiovascular Risk: Results of the School Health Survey of the Extreme South of Chile 2019

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 734
Author(s):  
Javier Albornoz-Guerrero ◽  
Rafael Zapata-Lamana ◽  
Daniel Reyes-Molina ◽  
Igor Cigarroa ◽  
Guillermo García Pérez de Sevilla ◽  
...  

Objective: To compare cardiovascular risk and cardiorespiratory capacity in schoolchildren from a region in the extreme south of Chile according to nutritional status and muscular strength. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 594 schoolchildren from 5th to 8th grade in the extreme south of Chile. Based on body mass index and lower limb muscle strength, participants were divided into four groups: high strength-normal weight, high strength-overweight/obese, low strength-normal weight, and low strength-overweight/obese. Then, waist-to-height ratio and cardiorespiratory capacity, measured with the 20 m shuttle run test, were assessed to determine their cardiovascular risk, comparing the four groups. Results: The overweight/obese group with high muscular strength presented better indicators in anthropometric variables (waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio) than their peers with low muscular strength. Additionally, the overweight/obese group with low muscular strength presented a lower cardiorespiratory capacity than their peers with high muscular strength. Both results were observed in boys and girls. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that overweight/obese schoolchildren with high muscle strength present healthier anthropometric indicators and greater cardiorespiratory capacity than their peers with low muscle strength. These results confirm the relevance of measuring muscle strength in schoolchildren and its usefulness to assess functionality. These results encourage the scientific community to continue studying the role that muscle strength plays in modulating the effects of overweight and obesity on respiratory and cardiovascular conditions in childhood.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Ying-xiu Zhang ◽  
Jian Chen ◽  
Xiao-hui Liu

Abstract The prevalence of central obesity in total population has been reported in numerous studies. However, information on the prevalence of central obesity within normal category of body mass index (BMI) is scant. In the present study, we examined the profiles of central obesity among normal-weight children and adolescents. A total of 29 516 (14 226 boys and 15 290 girls) normal-weight children and adolescents (excluding underweight, overweight and obesity) aged 7–18 years were included in the final analysis. Central obesity was defined by the international age- and sex-specific cut-offs of waist circumference (WC) and threshold of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR≥0.5). All subjects were classified into four groups (Q1–Q4) according to the age- and sex-specific quartiles of BMI, those in the upper fourth (Q4) were defined as ‘high-normal BMI’, and those in the lower fourth (Q1) were defined as ‘low-normal BMI’. The prevalence of central obesity as measured by WC was 9.90% (95% CI 9.41–10.39%) for boys and 8.11% (95% CI 7.68–8.54%) for girls; by WHtR was 2.97% (95% CI 2.69–3.25%) for boys and 2.44% (95% CI 2.20–2.68%) for girls. Subjects in the ‘high-normal BMI’ group had a much higher prevalence of central obesity than their counterparts in the ‘low-normal BMI’ group (P<0.01). Central obesity was also evident among normal-weight children and adolescents. Our findings suggest that the health risks of children with normal-weight central obesity may be missed when BMI is used alone as a measure, it is meaningful to include WC in the clinical practice and to include the simple message “Keep your waist to less than half your height”.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Rodrigues ◽  
Cristina Padez ◽  
Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues

Introduction: Central adiposity in children has increased to a higher degree than general adiposity however it is not a routine measurement in clinical practice. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and abdominal fat distribution and observe the prevalence of abdominal obesity among non-obese 6-10-year-old children.Material and Methods: Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured in a sample of 793 children (408 girls). International Obesity Task Force cut-offs were used to define overweight and obesity. Abdominal obesity was defined as waist-to-height ratio ≥ 0.50. Chi-square tests were used to observe the prevalence of the obesity indicators among boys and girls, and the relation between International Obesity Task Force cut-offs and abdominal obesity.Results: The prevalence of overweight, including obesity among children was 21.9% (18.9 – 25.0), 6.1% (4.2 – 8.0) were obese and 21.9% (18.6 – 25.0) had a waist-to-height ratio ≥ 0.50. Girls had significantly higher prevalence of overweight, including obesity compared to boys (χ2 = 4.59, p = 0.03), but no differences were found for abdominal obesity according to children’s gender (χ2 = 3.32, p = 0.07). A proportion of normal (8.2%; 5.9 – 10.6) and overweight children (59.5%; 50.9 – 69.0) were abdominally obese.Discussion: The prevalence of general and abdominal obesity in children living in central Portugal is of concern. Many children with abdominal obesity would not be considered obese with the International Obesity Task Force cut-off points.Conclusion: A high proportion of abdominal obesity was observed in children with normal weight or overweight, suggesting that waist-to-height ratio should be included in routine clinical practice and might be particularly useful to assess the health status of the child.


Author(s):  
Luisa Lampignano ◽  
Roberta Zupo ◽  
Rossella Donghia ◽  
Vito Guerra ◽  
Fabio Castellana ◽  
...  

Background: There is moderate-to-high evidence that the Mediterranean diet prevents increases in body weight and waist circumference in non-obese individuals but less is known about its effects in subjects with overweight and obesity. The present study was focused on exploring the cross-sectional association among the adherence to Mediterranean diet and the most commonly used variables of metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of overweight subjects from a typical Mediterranean region, Apulia, in Southern Italy. Methods:: The study was performed in a cohort of 1214 individuals, all with overweight or obesity but no other clinical condition. We investigated the association among adherence to Mediterranean diet, assessed with the PREDIMED score, and anthropometric parameters [namely body mass index (BMI), WC, waist to height ratio (WHtR) and neck circumference (NC)], fasting serum levels of glucose, insulin, uric acid and lipids (triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol), and blood pressure and insulin resistance, measured by HOMA-IR. Results:: The waist to height ratio was negatively associated to a PREDIMED score ≥7 (p<0.04), whereas HDL cholesterol was positively associated to a PREDIMED score ≥7 (p<0.04) Conclusion: This study suggests that body fat distribution and HDL-cholesterol are the parameters most strongly influenced by MedDiet in Apulian subjects.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Rangel-Baltazar ◽  
Lucia Cuevas-Nasu ◽  
Teresa Shamah-Levy ◽  
Sonia Rodríguez-Ramírez ◽  
Ignacio Méndez-Gómez-Humarán ◽  
...  

Little evidence exists regarding the association between waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors in Mexican adults. Our study pursued a twofold objective: To describe the association between a high WHtR and CVR indicators among Mexican adults canvassed by the 2016 Half-Way National Health and Nutrition Survey, and to examine the interaction of sex and age on this association. We analyzed data from the adult sample (≥20 years old) and classified in two groups using WHtRs ≥0.5 considered high and low otherwise. The following CVR factors were analyzed: High-total-cholesterol (≥200 mg/dL), low high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c < 40 mg/dL), high low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c ≥ 130 mg/dL), high triglycerides (≥150 mg/dL), insulin resistance (IR) (HOMA-IR) (≥2.6), and hypertension (HBP) (≥140/≥90 mmHg). We estimated prevalence ratios (PR) to analyze the association between high WHtRs and CVR indicators. Over 90% of participants had high WHtRs and were at greater risk for dyslipidemias, HBP, and IR compared to those that had low WHtRs. PR for men with high WHtRs were between 1.3 to 2.3 for dyslipidemias, 3.4 for HBP and 7.6 for IR; among women were between 1.8 to 2.4 for dyslipidemias and HBP and 5.9 for IR (p < 0.05). A high WHtR is associated with CVR factors in Mexican adults.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 2041-2047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Urrunaga-Pastor ◽  
Luciana De La Fuente-Carmelino ◽  
Carlos J. Toro-Huamanchumo ◽  
Miriam Pérez-Zavala ◽  
Vicente A. Benites-Zapata

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes de Onis ◽  
Cecilia Martínez-Costa ◽  
Francisco Núñez ◽  
Georges Nguefack-Tsague ◽  
Angeles Montal ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the association between cardiovascular risk and childhood overweight and obesity using the BMI cut-offs recommended by the WHO.DesignChildren were classified as normal weight, overweight and obese according to the WHO BMI-for-age reference. Blood pressure, lipids, glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and uric acid levels were compared across BMI groups. ANOVA and tests of linearity were used to assess overall mean differences across groups. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were calculated for adverse plasma levels of biochemical variables.SettingPaediatric care centres.SubjectsChildren (n 149) aged 8–18 years.ResultsAbout 37 %, 22 % and 41 % of children were classified respectively as normal weight, overweight and obese. There were significant linear mean differences between BMI groups in systolic blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol, TAG, insulin, HOMA-IR and uric acid. Obese children were 10·6 times more likely than normal-weight children to have hypertension; OR for other associations were 60·2 (high insulin), 39·5 (HOMA-IR), 27·9 (TAG), 16·0 (HDL-cholesterol), 4·3 (LDL-cholesterol) and 3·6 (uric acid). Overweight children were more likely than normal-weight children to have hypertension (OR = 3·5), high insulin (OR = 28·2), high HOMA-IR (OR = 23·3) and high TAG (OR = 16·1). Nearly 92 % and 57 % of the obese and overweight children, respectively, had one or more risk factor.ConclusionsObesity and overweight defined using the WHO BMI-for-age cut-offs identified children with higher metabolic and vascular risk. These results emphasize the importance of prevention of overweight and obesity in childhood to reduce cardiovascular risk.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (21_suppl) ◽  
pp. 12-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Morten Fredriksen ◽  
Angelica Skår ◽  
Asgeir Mamen

Aims: With overweight and obesity increasing worldwide, it has become ever more important to monitor the development and distribution of adiposity in children. This study investigated how the measurements of waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in children 6–12 years old relate to earlier studies. Methods: In 2015, 2271 children (boys, n = 1150) were measured for height, weight, and WC. Parental education level was used as a measure of socioeconomic status. Results: A significant increase in WC with age was revealed for both sexes ( p < .0001). Boys at 10 and 12 years had a larger WC than girls; otherwise no difference between sexes was found. The WHtR decreased with age for girls ( p < .0001); 14% of the sample displayed a WHtR ≥ 0.50. Comparison with earlier studies showed a higher WC and WHtR despite no change in weight and body mass index. Conclusion: WC and WHtR are recommended as tools for identifying central obesity in children. The results indicate increased WC in 6–12-year-old children compared with earlier findings.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan A Clifford ◽  
Alanna N Gillespie ◽  
Timothy Olds ◽  
Anneke C Grobler ◽  
Melissa Wake

ObjectivesOverweight and obesity remain at historically high levels, cluster within families and are established risk factors for multiple diseases. We describe the epidemiology and cross-generational concordance of body composition among Australian children aged 11–12 years and their parents.DesignThe population-based cross-sectional Child Health CheckPoint study, nested within the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC).SettingAssessment centres in seven major Australian cities and eight regional cities, or home visits; February 2015–March 2016.ParticipantsOf all participating CheckPoint families (n=1874), body composition data were available for 1872 children (49% girls) and 1852 parents (mean age 43.7 years; 88% mothers), including 1830 biological parent-child pairs.MeasuresHeight, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio for all participants; body fat and fat-free mass by four-limb bioimpedence analysis (BIA) at assessment centres, or body fat percentage by two-limb BIA at home visits. Analysis: parent-child concordance was assessed using (i) Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and (ii) partial correlation coefficients adjusted for age, sex and socioeconomic disadvantage. Survey weights and methods accounted for LSAC’s complex sample design.Results20.7% of children were overweight and 6.2% obese, as were 33.5% and 31.6% of parents. Boys and girls showed similar distributions for all body composition measures but, despite similar BMI and waist-to-height ratio, mothers had higher proportions of total and truncal fat than fathers. Parent-child partial correlations were greatest for height (0.37, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.42). Other anthropometric and fat/lean measures showed strikingly similar partial correlations, ranging from 0.25 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.29) for waist circumference to 0.30 (95% CI 0.25 to 0.34) for fat-free percentage. Whole-sample and sex-specific percentile values are provided for all measures.ConclusionsExcess adiposity remains prevalent in Australian children and parents. Moderate cross-generational concordance across all measures of leanness and adiposity is already evident by late childhood.


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