Association between obesity and lipid profile in children 10--12 years of age

Abstract

Background Worldwide prevalence of obesity in children has been increasing. Together with dyslipidemia and hypertension, obesity is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity later in life. Objective The aim of this study was to assess association between obesity and occurrence of dyslipidemia in 10-12 years old children. Methods We performed a cross sectional study on 53 obese and 53 non-obese children matched for age and gender in Yogyakarta. Obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC 2000 reference. The levels of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride were measured. Dyslipidemia was defined as increased level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and decreased level of HDL-cholesterol. Results Obese children had higher risk of increased level of triglyseride, i.e. RR 2.6 (95% CI 1.6 to 4.4), P<O.OOl and decreased level ofHDL-cholesterol, i.e. RR 17.8 (95%CI 14.0 to 20.1), P=0.003. Overall, relative risk for dyslipidemia in obese children was 5.2 (95%CI 4.2 to 5.9), P=0.002, higher than in non-obese children. Conclusion Compared to non-obese children, obese children have higher risk of dyslipidemia, particularly hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL.

Keywords

• obesity
• hypercholesterolemia
• dyslipidemia
• hypertriglyceridemia