The role of fitness in the association between fatness and cardiometabolic risk from childhood to adolescence

Abstract

Background Fatness and fitness both influence cardiometabolic risk. Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate whether childhood fatness and increasing fatness from childhood to adolescence are associated with cardiometabolic risk during adolescence and how fitness affects this association. Subjects and methods Of 565 adolescents (283 boys and 282 girls) from the TRacking Adolescents Individual Life Survey (TRAILS) data on anthropometric parameters (age 11 and 16), metabolic parameters, and fitness (age 16) were available. Body mass index and skinfolds were used as measures for fatness. Increasing fatness was calculated by subtracting Z‐scores for fatness at age 11 from Z‐score fatness at age 16. Cardiometabolic risk was calculated as the average of the standardized means of mean arterial pressure, fasting serum triglycerides, high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol, glucose, and waist circumference. Insulin resistance was calculated by homeostasis model assessment‐insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR). Fitness was estimated as maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) during a shuttle run test. Results Boys showed a higher clustered cardiometabolic risk when compared to girls (p < 0.01). Childhood fatness (age 11) and increasing fatness were independently associated with cardiometabolic risk during adolescence. In boys, high fitness was related to a reduced effect of increasing fatness on clustered cardiometabolic risk. Childhood fatness, increasing fatness, and fitness were independently associated with HOMA‐IR. Moreover, in boys this association was dependent of fatness. Conclusions Childhood fatness and increasing fatness are associated with increased cardiometabolic risk and HOMA‐IR during adolescence, but a good fitness attenuates this association especially in fat boys.

Influencia del sexo y el tipo de escuela sobre los índices de sobrepeso y obesidad

“…In relation to sex, girls had a higher percent body fat, consistent with previous reports. 6 Our analysis of blood pressure found significant relationships between all anthropometric measures (with the exception of the waist to hip ratio) and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which had been reported previously in a study of Chinese children and adolescents. 2 The latter found that blood pressure increased between 1.4 and 4.1 mmHg with each standard deviation increase in weight, BMI and height.…”

“…Spain is one of the countries with the highest prevalence rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Europe 4 , and the prevalence of childhood obesity in the autonomous community of La Rioja in particular is slightly above the national average at 9.7%. 5 These data are alarming, as a relationship between excess weight in the early years of life and the presence of excess weight in adolescence 6 and adulthood 7 has been clearly established.…”

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

“…The health and social consequences of both of these conditions are significant. 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).…”

Associations between Health-Related Fitness and Cardio-Metabolic Blood Profiles in Low-Income Children

“…However, other studies have shown that the relationship between aerobic fitness and cardio-metabolic risk is mediated by abdominal adiposity [22], while others have shown that fitness and risk is mediated by BMI [23]. Brouwer et al [24] found that aerobic fitness and fatness both independently related to a clustered cardio-metabolic risk score in a relatively large sample of 16-year old boys, but the independent effect of aerobic fitness was not found in girls. This study provided evidence that aerobic fitness may be more relevant to boys, while fatness may be more relevant to girls in the context of attenuating cardio-metabolic risk.…”