Characteristics of obese children with low content of arachidonic acid in plasma lipids

Sociodemographic, Anthropometric, and Dietary Predictors of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Adipose Tissue Among Mesoamerican Children and Their Parents

BACKGROUND

Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake is low throughout Latin America. Improving PUFA status could be an effective intervention against chronic disease, but information on sociodemographic and dietary patterning of PUFA status in the region is limited.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize sociodemographic, anthropometric, and dietary predictors of PUFA status biomarkers in adipose tissue among children and their parents from Mesoamerica.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of 220 children aged 7 to 12 years and 471 parents from capital cities of Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize, as well as Tuxtla Gutiérrez in Mexico. The PUFA from gluteal adipose tissue was quantified using gas chromatography. Participants reported sociodemographic information and the type of vegetable oil used for cooking. We estimated percent mean differences in linoleic acid (LA), total long-chain n-6 PUFA (n-6 LCPUFA), α-linolenic acid (ALA), and total long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) between levels of predictors using multivariable-adjusted linear regression models.

RESULTS

Country was the strongest predictor of any PUFA, whereas body mass index was positively associated with n-6 LCPUFA in children and adults. Cooking primarily with soybean oil was positively associated with LA in children and adults and ALA in adults. Cooking with canola oil was positively related to n-6 LCPUFA in adults and n-3 LCPUFA in children and adults. Cooking with palm oil was associated with low adipose tissue levels of all n-6 and n-3 PUFA.

CONCLUSIONS

Adipose tissue PUFA status in Mesoamerica is associated with country of origin and the type of oil used for cooking.

Docosahexaenoic Acid Levels in Blood and Metabolic Syndrome in Obese Children: Is There a Link?

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing in the pediatric population. Considering the different existing criteria to define metabolic syndrome, the use of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria has been suggested in children. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been associated with beneficial effects on health. The evidence about the relationship of DHA status in blood and components of the metabolic syndrome is unclear. This review discusses the possible association between DHA content in plasma and erythrocytes and components of the metabolic syndrome included in the IDF criteria (obesity, alteration of glucose metabolism, blood lipid profile, and blood pressure) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children. The current evidence is inconsistent and no definitive conclusion can be drawn in the pediatric population. Well-designed longitudinal and powered trials need to clarify the possible association between blood DHA status and metabolic syndrome.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid status in obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) status has recently been related to the pathogenesis of obesity. Our aims were to systematically review observational studies investigating LCPUFA status from different blood compartments in overweight or obese subjects and to assess the relationship between LCPUFA profile and obesity. The Ovid MEDLINE, Scopus and Cochrane Library CENTRAL databases were searched from inception to January 2014. The meta-analysis showed significant differences in the LCPUFA composition of total plasma lipids, plasma phospholipids and plasma cholesteryl esters between overweight or obese subjects and controls. Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) values were significantly higher in overweight or obese subjects compared with controls in all the investigated biomarkers. In addition, the DGLA/linoleic acid ratio (surrogate parameter for Δ6 desaturase activity) in plasma phospholipids was significantly elevated (mean difference [MD]: 0.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02, 0.08; n = 280), while the arachidonic acid/DGLA ratio (surrogate parameter for Δ5 desaturase activity) was significantly decreased (MD: -0.55; 95% CI: -0.71, -0.39; n = 347) in overweight or obese subjects compared with controls. The results of the present meta-analysis confirm that LCPUFA profile is altered in obesity and suggest that the differences observed in desaturase activities may be responsible for the disturbed LCPUFA metabolism in obesity.

Prevalence of childhood obesity from 1978 to 2007 in Japan

BACKGROUND

There are few cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on identification of the age of onset of obesity. The purpose of the present study was therefore to investigate 30 years of cross-sectional and longitudinal changes in the prevalence of obesity from 1978 to 2007 in Japanese children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years of age, using population-based samples.

METHODS

Subject data were obtained from the Annual Reports of the School Health Survey published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for age and gender based on the reference years from 1979 to 1981 in Japan. The BMI was calculated as weight in kg/(height in m)(2).

RESULTS

Cross-sectional analysis of 5-, 8-, 11-, 14-, and 17-year-olds showed that the prevalence of obesity has gradually decreased since the early 2000s, with the highest prevalence in the late 1990s to early 2000s, except for in 17 year-old boys. Longitudinal studies showed that the critical periods for developing obesity were in late infancy (between 5 and 6 years of age) and in the high school period in boys, and mainly in late infancy in girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Intervention to prevent obesity should be focused on late infancy in both genders and male adolescents in Japan.