Association of Anthropometric Measures and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Children and Adolescents: Findings from the Aboriginal Birth Cohort Study

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2018 Jun 22

PMID 29927998

Citations 2

Authors

Angela Gialamas

Angela Kinnell

Murthy N Mittinty

Belinda Davison

Gurmeet Singh

John Lynch

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study examined the association of anthropometric measures including height, leg length, trunk length and body mass index (BMI) at 11 and 18 years with systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) at 11 and 18 years. We analysed data from 661 participants from the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study-a longitudinal study based in the Northern Territory, Australia. Associations between anthropometric measures and cardiovascular risk factors were investigated in linear regression analyses adjusted for confounding, with imputation for missing data. In adjusted analyses, increasing leg length [males: 0.47mmHg/cm (0.23, 0.72); females: 0.50mmHg/cm (0.18, 0.83)], trunk length [males: 0.50mmHg/cm (0.28, 0.73); females: 0.57mmHg/cm (0.33, 0.81)] and height [males: 0.32mmHg/cm (0.16, 0.48); females: 0.32mmHg/cm (0.12, 0.52)] at 11 years was associated with higher SBP at 11 years. When these exposures were measured at 18 years the effect on SBP at 18 years had attenuated, and only increased trunk length was associated with higher SBP at 18 years for both sexes [males: 0.46mmHg/cm (0.05, 0.87); females: 0.69mmHg/cm (0.30, 1.08)]. We observed little association between height, leg length and trunk length and DBP, total cholesterol, LDL-c and HDL-c. Increased BMI was associated with elevated SBP and DBP at 11 and 18 years. Our findings suggest that height, leg length, and trunk length measured at 11 and 18 years was generally not associated with cardiovascular risk factors at 11 and 18 years. However, greater childhood BMI was associated with higher blood pressure and this association persisted into adolescence. This study contributes to the limited body of evidence on the association between measures of early anthropometry and cardiovascular risk among the Australian Aboriginal population.

Citing Articles

Status of Cardiovascular Health in Chinese Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study in China.

Zhu Y, Guo P, Zou Z, Li X, Cao M, Ma J JACC Asia. 2022; 2(1):87-100.

PMID: 36340258 PMC: 9627810. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacasi.2021.09.007.

Potential Determinants of Cardio-Metabolic Risk among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

McKay C, OBryan E, Gubhaju L, McNamara B, Gibberd A, Azzopardi P Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(15).

PMID: 35954531 PMC: 9368168. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19159180.

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