ESPE2023 Poster Category 1 Fat, Metabolism and Obesity (97 abstracts)
Decreased physical fitness in children is associated with increased cardiovascular risk determined by increased carotid intima-media thickness
Ana Drole Torkar 1 , Emil Plesnik 2 , Klemen Dovc 1 , Soncka Jazbinsek 1 , Matej Mlinaric 1 , Urh Groselj 1,3 , Tadej Battelino 1,3 , Grogor Starc 4 & Primoz Kotnik 1,3
1Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 2Better d.o.o., Ljubljana, Slovenia. 3Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 4Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Background: Early vascular aging is driven by modifiable lifestyle risk factors, including physical inactivity. Early identification of children at risk of atherosclerosis (AS) is needed for implementing primary preventive measures addressing vascular health. The aim of the study was to determine the association between objectively determined physical fitness (PF) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), used as a reliable noninvasive biomarker of AS in a population of healthy children.
Methods: 784 healthy children (49.9% male) between the ages of 6 and 15 (mean +/. SD; 8.89 +/- 3.52 years) were included. cIMT measurement was performed by a linear probe with a frequency range of 3 to 13 MHz and the radiofrequency-based software-guided technique (RFQIMT, Esaote®). Device-specific percentile values for age and sex were used. The dataset on PF was obtained from the national physical activity surveillance system in collaboration with the Faculty of Sports (https://en.slofit.org/). An overall PF score is calculated from eight tests (arm plate tapping, standing broad jump, backward obstacle course, sit-ups in 60 s, stand and reach, bent-arm hang, 60-m dash, 600-m run). Low PF was determined if their score was < 10th percentile and high if the score was > 90th percentile. Percentile values are age- and sex-specific, based on the ranking of every child in the population of all Slovenian children in the 1989–2019 period. The PF results are not adjusted to weight, height, triceps skinfold thickness, or BMI. Statistical analysis of the pairwise comparison of cIMT in low and high PF performance groups was done using the Wilcoxon rank sum test with continuity correction.
Results: Children with PF < 10th percentile had higher cIMT (n= 58; mean 593 +/-. 31 μm) than those with PF > 90th percentile (n=178; mean 480 +/-. 29 μm) as was determined by the Wilcoxon rank sum test with continuity correction (p =. 012).
Conclusion: Decreased PF was linked to an increased cITM, as a marker of early AS in a healthy population of children and adolescents. These results suggest that objectively determined PF in healthy children could be used as an additional screening tool to determine those at an increased cardiovascular risk already in childhood.
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