Prevalence of abdominal obesity in non-obese adolescents: a North Indian adolescent study

Circulatory levels of lysophosphatidylcholine species in obese adolescents: Findings from cross-sectional and prospective lipidomics analyses

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions, emphasizing the importance of reliable biomarkers for detecting early metabolic alterations and enabling early preventative interventions. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms and specific lipid species associated with childhood obesity remains limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate plasma lipidomic signatures as potential biomarkers for adolescent obesity.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A total of 103 individuals comprising overweight/obese (n = 46) and normal weight (n = 57) were randomly chosen from the baseline ORANGE (Obesity Reduction and Noncommunicable Disease Awareness through Group Education) cohort, having been followed up for a median of 7.1 years. Plasma lipidomic profiling was performed using the UHPLC-HRMS method. We used three different models adjusted for clinical covariates to analyze the data. Clustering methods were used to define metabotypes, which allowed for the stratification of subjects into subgroups with similar clinical and metabolic profiles. We observed that lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) species like LPC.16.0, LPC.18.3, LPC.18.1, and LPC.20.3 were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with baseline and follow-up BMI in adolescent obesity. The association of LPC species with BMI remained consistently significant even after adjusting for potential confounders. Moreover, applying metabotyping using hierarchical clustering provided insights into the metabolic heterogeneity within the normal and obese groups, distinguishing metabolically healthy individuals from those with unhealthy metabolic profiles.

CONCLUSION

The specific LPC levels were found to be altered and increased in childhood obesity, particularly during the follow-up. These findings suggest that LPC species hold promise as potential biomarkers of obesity in adolescents, including healthy and unhealthy metabolic profiles.

The relationship of remnant cholesterol and abdominal obesity in children: A cross-sectional study

Background

Previous studies found that remnant cholesterol (RC) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and childhood obesity is associated with cardiometabolic diseases. This study aimed to explore the relationship between RC and abdominal obesity in children.

Methods

A total of 5,959 children, aged 6−12 years old, were selected from a cross-sectional study in urban-rural areas of Chongqing, China. RC was calculated by total cholesterol (TC)—high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) cholesterol—low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) cholesterol and was divided into four groups by quartiles (Q1–Q4).

Results

Compared to children with the lowest RC (Q1), children with higher RC had significantly higher odds of abdominal obesity (Q2: OR = 1.450, 95% CI: 1.131−1.859, p < 0.05; Q3: OR = 2.127, 95% CI: 1.632−2.772, p < 0.001; Q4: OR = 2.386, 95% CI: 1.819−3.130, p < 0.001). In the stratified analyses by urban-rural areas, the odds ratios were greater in rural areas (Q2: OR = 2.228, 95% CI: 1.572−3.160, p < 0.001; Q3: OR = 3.668, 95% CI: 2.191−6.140, p < 0.001; Q4: OR = 6.490, 95% CI: 2.271−18.551, p < 0.001) than in urban areas (Q2: OR = 1.644, 95% CI: 1.192−2.266, p < 0.05; Q3: OR = 2.266, 95% CI: 1.667−3.082, p < 0.001; Q4: OR = 2.711, 95% CI: 2.005−3.665, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Our study found that RC was positively correlated with abdominal obesity in children, and this association was higher for children living in rural areas.

Influence of the Driving Pressure on Mortality in ARDS Patients with or without Abdominal Obesity: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective. This study sets out to explore if the relationship between the driving pressure and hospital mortality in ARDS patients is influenced by body mass index (BMI) level or the presence of abdominal obesity. Methods. Data were extracted from an online database named “Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care III.” A total of 1556 patients were included and divided into four subgroups based on both BMI level (BMI ≥30 kg/m2 or BMI ＜30 kg/m2) and abdominal assessment. Driving pressure [i.e., the difference between plateau pressure and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP)] within 24 h of invasive mechanical ventilation was compared between survivors and nonsurvivors during hospitalization in each group. A logistic regression model was used for hospital mortality. Results. There were 1556 patients with mild-to-severe ARDS, 666 (42.80%) nonobese patients with nonabdominal obesity, 259 (16.65%) nonobese patients with abdominal obesity, 97 (6.23%) obese patients with nonabdominal obesity, and 534 (34.32%) obese patients with abdominal obesity. Driving pressure in nonobese patients with nonabdominal obesity was significantly lower in survivors (12.77 ± 4.53 cm H2O) than in nonsurvivors (14.26 ± 5.52 cm H2O, $p<0.01$ ). On the contrary, in the other three groups, driving pressure was not significantly different between survivors and nonsurvivors. After a logistic multivariable regression analysis, in nonobese (BMI<30 kg/m2) patients with nonabdominal obesity, the driving pressure was independently associated with increased hospital mortality (OR: 1.04, 95% CI 1.00–1.09, $p<0.05$ ) but not in the other three subgroups. Conclusion. Driving pressure is associated with increase in hospital mortality only in nonobese (BMI <30 kg/m2) patients with nonabdominal obesity.

A qualitative analysis of the Parliamentary questions on the issue of obesity raised over the past two decades in India

Background:

Obesity is a major health issue that is drastically affecting the Indian population in the recent years. It is a major predisposing factor for non-communicable diseases.

Introduction:

The parliament is a powerful organization that holds sessions on regular basis and allows a question hour at the end of each session. Members ask varied questions on major issues and these documented questions are a valuable source of data for policy analysis.

Material and Methods:

Questions on obesity were collected from the official websites of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and thematic analysis was done with inductive reasoning. Themes and subthemes were categorized and questions were coded into nodes using N Vivo software.

Results:

A total of 134 questions on obesity were asked in both the houses, out of which 101 questions were from Lok Sabha and 33 questions were from Rajya Sabha. Majority of the questions were asked to the ministry of health and family welfare. Only a total of 48 unique parliamentarians from 13 states have asked questions on obesity in the past two decades.

Discussion:

The questions were of competing interests with majority of questions on incidence of obesity. A number of questions on school and community based interventions were asked and new suggestions were given by members. Questions on BMI documentation of individuals and gender predisposition showed presence of awareness and knowledge among the members on obesity. Most of the existing policies are malnutrition based and obesity has not been adequately addressed. More questions with stronger representation from all states of the country can help in effective policy planning and implementation of programs to eliminate obesity.