Key result
Childhood obesity without metabolic abnormalities is linked to ~12% greater CIMT versus normal-weight controls.
Why the study?
The cardiovascular disease risk in metabolically healthy obese children compared to metabolically unhealthy obese and normal-weight children was assessed using carotid intima-media thickness.
Does obesity, even in the absence of metabolic abnormalities, increase carotid intima-media thickness in children?
Case-Control (n=303)
No
Does obesity, even in the absence of metabolic abnormalities, increase carotid intima-media thickness in children?
Absolute Event Rate: 453.29% vs 402.97%
p-value: p=<0.01
Obesity in children is associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness, an early marker of cardiovascular disease, regardless of the presence of metabolic abnormalities.
Both MHO and MUO children show elevated CIMT versus controls; leaves open whether obesity independently drives early vascular changes in youth.
BACKGROUND: The cardiovascular disease risk was assessed in metabolically healthy obese (MHO) children, obese children with metabolic disorders (MUO), and to a control group of normal-weight children using carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). METHODS: Participants were 204 obese children (114 M, 90 F), including 162 MUO (74 M, 88 F) and 42 MHO (24 M, 18 F), and 99 gender- and age-matched controls (45 M, 54 F). Glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and other serum values were determined in peripheral blood. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, and a carotid Doppler ultrasound scan were also acquired. The mean CIMT of obese subjects and controls was compared by analysis of variance. Abnormality of even one of the metabolic parameters assessed involved assignation to the MUO group. Mean CIMT was compared in MHO and MUO children. RESULTS: Mean CIMT in control children was 402.97 ± 53.18 μm (left carotid artery) and 377.85 ± 52.47 μm (right carotid artery). In MHO and MUO patients CIMT was respectively 453.29 ± 62.04 and 460.17 ± 92.22 μm (left carotid artery) and 446.36 ± 49.21 and 456.30 ± 85.7 μm (right carotid artery). The mean CIMT was not significantly different in MUO and MHO children, whereas it showed a significant difference between both groups of obese children and controls (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: CIMT was significantly greater in obese patients, also in those without metabolic alterations, than in normal-weight children. Obesity is therefore an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease in itself, also in the absence of metabolic abnormalities.
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Farello et al. (2018) conducted a case-control in Childhood Obesity (n=303). Obesity (Metabolically healthy and unhealthy) vs. Normal-weight was evaluated on Mean left carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in μm (p=<0.01). Obesity in children, even in the absence of metabolic abnormalities, is associated with significantly greater carotid intima-media thickness compared to normal-weight controls (p < 0.01).
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