ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Approximately 42 million children under the age of five are overweight or obese worldwide. Being overweight or obese at a young age is linked to several health and economic consequences and it is, therefore, important to study causes and risk factors and identify the best prevention and treatment strategies. The result of previous epidemiological study of 277 school boys in Ternopil city demonstrated that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among pupils are 7.6% and 2.7% respectively. Obesity-related heart disease contributes to premature death. The aim of our current study is to identify the correlation between anthropometrical parameters of a body and echocardiography data in obese school boys.

Methods and results: 45 obese school boys aged 10–16 years were involved in the study. Echocardiography was performed under standard conditions and by standard technique. To assess the physical development of each child, measurements of body weight, height, waist and hip circumferences and body mass index were matched.

Results: The strongest direct correlation was found between waist, hip circumferences and structural parameters (diameter of the ascending aorta, left atrial diameter, left ventricular (LV) dimensions in diastole and systole, LV mass index), r=0.515–0.798, P<0.001), that indicates LV hypertrophy. Similarly, functional values, like LV volumes in systole and diastole directly correlated with waist and hip circumferences (r=0.606–0.688, P<0.001). At the same time, we did not find direct relation between BMI and any structural or functional parameters of heart, also ejection fraction was not directly related to anthropometric body parameters.

Summary: Obesity has direct effect on heart function, which means that excessive body fat might negatively affect cardiac health during the childhood. However, this fact has not received yet enough attention. Such simple measurements like waist and hip circumferences in school boys may be used as screening tests for further detailed examination of heart structure and function in obese boys.