Park MH, Skow Á, De Matteis S, Kessel AS, Saxena S, Viner RM, Kinra S. Adiposity and carotid-intima media thickness in children and adolescents: a systematic review.
BMC Pediatr 2015;
15:161. [PMID:
26475608 PMCID:
PMC4609088 DOI:
10.1186/s12887-015-0478-5]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2014] [Accepted: 10/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Adiposity in childhood is associated with later cardiovascular disease (CVD), but it is unclear whether this relationship is independent of other risk factors experienced in later life, such as smoking and hypertension. Carotid-intima media thickness (cIMT) is a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis that may be used to assess CVD risk in young people. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between adiposity and cIMT in children and adolescents.
Methods
We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health, and CINAHL Plus electronic databases (1980–2014). Population-based observational studies that reported a measure of association between objectively-measured adiposity and cIMT in childhood were included in this review.
Results
Twenty-two cross-sectional studies were included (n = 7,366 children and adolescents). Thirteen of nineteen studies conducted in adolescent populations (mean age ≥12 years, n = 5,986) reported positive associations between cIMT and adiposity measures (correlation coefficients 0.13 to 0.59). Three studies of pre-adolescent populations (n = 1,380) reported mixed evidence, two studies finding no evidence of a correlation, and one an inverse relationship between skinfolds and cIMT. Included studies did not report an adiposity threshold for subclinical atherosclerosis.
Conclusions
Based on studies conducted mostly in Western Europe and the US, adiposity does not appear to be associated with cIMT in pre-adolescents, but may be associated in adolescents. If further studies confirm these findings, a focus on cardiovascular disease prevention efforts in pre-adolescence, before arterial changes have emerged, may be justified.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12887-015-0478-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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