Indices of fatness and relationships with age, ethnicity and lipids in New Zealand European, Māori and Pacific children

Abstract

Background/Objectives: To investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI), body fatness, ethnicity, age and blood lipids. Subjects/Method: In a subsample (N ¼ 643) of the 2002 New Zealand Child Nutrition Survey (N ¼ 3275, age 5-14 years) consisting Māori (89 boys, 69 girls), Pacific (154 boys, 194 girls) and European (71 boys, 66 girls) ethnic groups, fat-free mass (FFM) was determined by bioimpedance analysis. FFM index (FFMI, FFM/height 2 ), fat mass index (FMI, fat mass/height 2 ) and percentage body fat (%BF) were derived. Plasma total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were measured in 515 (80%) of these children. Results: For the same BMI, %BF was lower in Pacific Island (Po0.0001) and Māori (Po0.0001) girls compared with European but for boys there were no ethnic differences. Cross-sectional analysis across ages using Hattori charts clearly showed sexual dimorphism with girls having a higher FMI, FFMI and BMI than boys by the age of 13 year. Both Pacific girls and boys showed upward trends in FFMI and FMI with age that were significantly higher than those of the other ethnicities. Adjusting for age, sex and ethnicity, %BF was a better predictor (R 2 ¼ 0.090, P ¼ 0.0002) of total cholesterol than BMI (R 2 ¼ 0.061, P ¼ 0.049) or waist (R 2 ¼ 0.075, P ¼ 0.013) while FFMI was the best predictor of HDL cholesterol (R 2 ¼ 0.15, Po0.0001) and waist was the best predictor of the total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio (R 2 ¼ 0.17, Po0.0001). Conclusions: Measurements of body fat and indices of body fatness additional to BMI in multiethnic paediatric populations allow changes in fat mass and FFM to be tracked and improve the ability to predict dyslipidaemia.

Growth centiles of Pacific children living in Auckland, New Zealand

“…At age 6 children in the PIF cohort with highest birth weights were heaviest 5 while for the children with the smallest birth weights weight gain over their first 6 years was more rapid than other children in the cohort. Furthermore, an Auckland sample from the National Children's Nutrition Survey showed Pacific girls and boys, aged between 5 to 14 years, increased in fat free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) faster than their European or Māori counterparts 6 .…”

“…Heavier children are also more likely to have a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors 6,17 . These findings support the requirement for action points for detection of cardiometabolic abnormalities to be based on historical data which precedes or circumvents the current obesity epidemic.…”

The frequency of overweight and obesity occurrence among Polish children (age 6–7 years) in relation to the place of residence, the education level of parents and the number children in the family

“…Overfeeding and the excessive growth of adipose tissue in young children burden their bodies and lead to a variety of health problems that can manifest themselves during adolescence or many years later (Geiẞ et al 2001, Brouwer et al 2013). Body fat is strongly associated with total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (Rush 2009). Importantly, excess body weight predicts not only medical problems in children but also social and educational ones (Janssen et al 2004).…”

Relationship between BMI and body fatness in three European countries

“…Several studies have reported this in Asian, African and indigenous populations, often compared with Caucasians. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] However, information is lacking on differences between, for example, various Caucasian populations within Europe.…”