Associations of midchildhood to early adolescence central adiposity gain with cardiometabolic health in early adolescence

Abstract

Objective This study examined the associations of central adiposity gain from midchildhood to early adolescence with cardiometabolic health markers in early adolescence. Methods A total of 620 participants were studied in Project Viva. In midchildhood (mean age = 7.8 years) and early adolescence (12.9 years), waist circumference and dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry‐measured visceral adipose tissue, subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue, and trunk fat were obtained. Central adiposity gain was calculated as change per year between visits. Cardiometabolic health markers, including blood pressure, lipids, markers of insulin resistance, inflammation, and adipokines, were collected in early adolescence. Results Greater waist circumference gain was associated with higher log triglycerides (β 0.07 mg/dL; 95% CI: 0.02‐0.13), log alanine aminotransferase (0.07 U/L; 95% CI: 0.03‐0.12), log high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (0.43 mg/L; 95% CI: 0.28‐0.58), and other cardiometabolic markers in early adolescence. Directly measured central adiposity gains were associated with higher systolic blood pressure z score in early adolescence (visceral adipose tissue [0.13 SD units; 95% CI: 0.04‐0.23], subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue [0.18 SD units; 95% CI: 0.04‐0.31], and trunk fat [0.21 SD units; 95% CI: 0.06‐0.36]). These associations were independent of baseline and change in total adiposity from midchildhood to early adolescence. Conclusions Monitoring central adiposity gain may enable identification and intervention in children vulnerable to developing cardiometabolic health risks.

Assessment of a consensus definition of obesity and metabolic health phenotypes in children at different pubertal stages

“…Importantly, our observations revealed that "unhealthy" subjects among children without obesity was 41% (T2), 38% (T4) and 30% (1YPM), which should be a reason for concern. Central fat accumulation in childhood into adolescence has been directly associated with unfavorable cardiometabolic health marker profiles, regardless of total body fat 37 . Our results indicate that at T2, HOMA-IR was directly correlated with WC but not with zBMI, in children classified as metabolically-unhealthy (data not shown), consistent with a more relevant role of central than whole body fatness inducing metabolic derangements.…”

A Mini-Review of Pediatric Anthropometrics as Predictors of Future Insulin Resistance

“…For example, studies have already found those with a greater change in BMI during adolescence have increased future insulin resistance ( 38 ). Some have even begun evaluating trends of different adiposity measurements as they relate to short term outcomes ( 39 , 40 ). As cohorts progress in age, additional studies of trajectories of other measures of adiposity, aside from BMI, on long term disease risk may reveal potential benefits to alternative measurements.…”

Overfat cutoffs and the optimal combination of body fat indices for detecting cardiometabolic risk among school‐aged children

“…Some researchers would assert overfat as an excess of body fat percentage (BF%) [7,12], and others would suggest using fat mass index (FMI) [10,13]. Furthermore, a growing amount of evidence suggests that general and abdominal fat measures can provide complementary information to each other for cardiometabolic risk (CMR) prediction [14][15][16]. However, how to choose and combine these body fat indicators to maximize their utility in risk stratification among children has not been established so far.…”