Anthropometric indicators and cardiometabolic events among school-aged children from Sonora, Mexico

© 2015, Grupo Aula Medica S.A. All Rights Reserved. Introduction: obesity in childhood is predictive of obesity in adulthood and it is associated with adverse health effect apparent since childhood; however, the joint assessment of obesity and adverse events among children in clinical settings is unusual. Objectives: to assess the association of overweight and obesity, abdominal obesity, and excess body fat with systolic [SBP] and diastolic [DBP] blood pressure, lipid profile and glucose levels; and to identify the best anthropometric indicator of such events. Material and methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study in a sample of 412 schoolchildren. The presence of overweight and obesity, abdominal obesity and excess body fat was determined among all participants; levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, high and low density lipoproteins, and glucose were measured in a subsample (n = 133). The associations of interest were assessed using adjusted linear and logistic regression models. Results: 33% of the children were overweight or obese. Overall, overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity, and excess body fat were associated with elevated SBP and DBP and with a lipid profile and glucose levels that could indicate health risks among these children. Overweight and obesity were the best predictors of such events. Conclusions: among these school-aged children, we observed that obesity was associated with high odds of having adverse health outcomes such as high blood pressure, lipids and glucose. Such adverse events can be predicted by the presence of obesity measured by BMI, which is a noninvasive, inexpensive and easy to implement measure.