RESEARCH ARTICLE
Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Portuguese Obese Children and Adolescents: Impact of Small Reductions in Body Mass Index Imposed by Lifestyle Modifications
Henrique Nascimento1, 2, Elísio Costa 3, Petronila Rocha-Pereira 4, Carla Rego 5, Helena Ferreira Mansilha 6, Alexandre Quintanilha 2, 7, Alice Santos-Silva 1, 2, Luís Belo*, 1, 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 43
Last Page: 50
Publisher ID: TOBIOCJ-6-43
DOI: 10.2174/1874091X01206010043
Article History:
Received Date: 10/9/2011Revision Received Date: 12/10/2011
Acceptance Date: 30/10/2011
Electronic publication date: 11/5/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http: //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objectives:
Evaluate cardiovascular risk factors in Portuguese obese children and adolescents and the long-term effects of lifestyle modifications on such risk factors.
Design:
Transversal cohort study and longitudinal study.
Setting:
University Hospital S. João and Children’s Hospital Maria Pia, Porto.
Patients/Participants:
148 obese children and adolescents [81 females (54.7%); mean age of 11.0 years] and 33 controls (sex and age matched) participated in a cross-sectional study. Sixty obese patients agreed to participate in an one year longitudinal study after medical and nutritionist appointments to improve lifestyle modification; a substantial body mass index (BMI) reduction was defined by a decrease in BMI z-score (BMI z-sc) of 0.3 or more over the studied period.
Main Outcome measures:
Lipid profile (triglycerides, cholesterol, HDLc, LDLc, lipoprotein (a), apolipoproteins A and B) and circulating levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin, glucose, and insulin.
Results:
Compared with the lean children, obese patients demonstrated statistically significantly higher insulin resistance index [Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)], and triglycerides, LDLc, apolipoprotein (apo) B, insulin and CRP concentrations, whereas their HDLc and apo A levels were significantly lower (cross-sectional study). In the longitudinal study (n=60), a substantial BMI reduction occurred in 17 (28.3%) obese patients which led to a significant reduction in triglycerides, cholesterol, LDLc, apo B, glucose and insulin levels and in HOMA. The ΔBMI values over the studied period correlated inversely and significantly with BMI (P<0.001) and HOMA (P=0.026) values observed at baseline. In multiple linear regression analysis, BMI at baseline remained associated to changes in BMI over the studied period (standardised Beta: -0.271, P=0.05).
Conclusion:
Our data demonstrates that small reductions in BMI-zc, imposed by lifestyle modifications in obese children and adolescents, improve the cardiovascular risk profile of such patients. Furthermore, patients with higher BMI and/or insulin resistance seem to experience a greater relative reduction in their BMI after lifestyle improvements.
