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Childhood adiposity: being male is a potential cardiovascular risk factor

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Abstract

As the earliest atherosclerotic lesions begin during childhood, our aim was to correlate gender-related adiposity to classical cardiovascular risk factors in a group of children.An observational and transversal analysis was carried out in a cohort consisting of 161 children of both sexes, aged 6 to 17 years of age. Waist circumference was correlated to leptin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, plasma lipids, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance, and the left ventricular mass index. After adjusting for age, waist circumference in boys, compared to girls, correlated more strongly and directly to systolic (r = 0.538; p < 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (ρ = 0.401; p < 0.01), ApoB/ApoA ratio (ρ = 0.515; p < 0.01), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = −0.441; p < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ρ = 0.280; p < 0.01), triglycerides (ρ = 0.420; p < 0.001), homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (ρ = 0.463; p < 0.001), and the left ventricular mass index (ρ = 0.286; p < 0.01). A similar pattern was observed regarding the correlations between leptin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and the above parameters (except between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and diastolic blood pressure), and also, particularly in boys.

Conclusion: Although increased childhood adiposity is related to a more adverse metabolic and clinical profile in both genders, males appear to have a potentially greater cardiovascular risk.

What is Known:

•Obesity is characterized by a chronic low-grade inflammatory process.

What is New:

•Increased adiposity is related to a more pronounced pro-inflammatory response in boys.

•Childhood male adiposity is a potentially greater cardiovascular risk factor.

•Arterial hypertension, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia is more strongly correlated to waist circumference in boys.

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Abbreviations

ApoB/ApoA-I:

Apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-I ratio

BMI:

Body mass index

dBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

HOMA-IR:

Homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance

hsCRP:

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein

IVS:

Interventricular septum diameter

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LVED:

Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter

LVM:

Left ventricular mass

LVMI:

Left ventricular mass index

LVPW:

Left ventricular posterior wall diameter

sBP:

Systolic blood pressure

TC:

Total cholesterol

TG:

Triglycerides

WC:

Waist circumference

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Authors’ contributions

António Pires was involved in the study design, data collection, all aspects of the patients’ clinical and ultrasonographic evaluation, data analysis, and interpretation, as well as literature search and writing of the manuscript. Paula Martins and Eduardo Castela carried out the data collection and were involved in the ultrasonographic analysis. Ana Pereira was involved in the data collection and laboratory experiments. Margarida Marques oversaw the statistical analysis. Cristina Sena and Raquel Seiça carried out the data analysis and interpretation. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital Pediátrico de Coimbra, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, EPE, Coimbra, Portugal

    António Pires, Paula Martins & Eduardo Castela

  2. Laboratório de Fisiologia, Instituto Biomédico de Investigação de Luz e Imagem (IBILI) da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Margarida Pereira, Cristina Sena & Raquel Seiça

  3. Laboratório de Estatística da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Instituto Biomédico de Investigação da Luz e Imagem (IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal

    Margarida Marques

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  1. António Pires
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  2. Paula Martins
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Correspondence to António Pires.

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Communicated by Jaan Toelen

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Pires, A., Martins, P., Pereira, A.M. et al. Childhood adiposity: being male is a potential cardiovascular risk factor. Eur J Pediatr 175, 63–69 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2599-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2599-0

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