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Rodriguez A, Korzeniowska K, Szarejko K, Borowski H, Brzeziński M, Myśliwiec M, Czupryniak L, Berggren PO, Radziwiłł M, Soszyński P. Fitness, Food, and Biomarkers: Characterizing Body Composition in 19,634 Early Adolescents. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14071369. [PMID: 35405987 PMCID: PMC9003290 DOI: 10.3390/nu14071369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Adolescent obesity persists as a major concern, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, yet evidence gaps exist regarding the pivotal early adolescent years. Our objective was to provide a comprehensive picture using a holistic approach of measured anthropometry in early adolescence, including body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and reported lifestyle characteristics. We aimed to elucidate potential sex/gender differences throughout and associations to biomarkers of disease risk for obese adolescents. Methods: Trained nurses measured 19,634 early adolescents (12−14-year-olds), we collected parental reports, and, for obese adolescents, fasting blood samples in four major Polish cities using a cross-sectional developmental design. Results: 24.7% boys and 18.6% girls were overweight/obese, and 2886 had BMI ≥ 90th percentile. With increasing age, there was greater risk of obesity among boys (p for trend = 0.001) and a decreasing risk of thinness for girls (p for trend = 0.01). Contrary to debate, we found BMI (continuous) was a useful indicator of measured fat mass (FM). There were 38.6% with CRF in the range of poor/very poor and was accounted for primarily by FM in boys, rather than BMI, and systolic blood pressure in girls. Boys, in comparison to girls, engaged more in sports (t = 127.26, p < 0.0001) and consumed more fast food (t = 188.57, p < 0.0001) and sugar-sweetened beverages (167.46, p < 0.0001). Uric acid, a potential marker for prediabetes, was strongly related to BMI in the obese subsample for both boys and girls. Obese girls showed signs of undernutrition. Conclusion: these findings show that overweight/obesity is by far a larger public health problem than thinness in early adolescence and is characterized differentially by sex/gender. Moreover, poor CRF in this age, which may contribute to life course obesity and disease, highlights the need for integrated and personalized intervention strategies taking sex/gender into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Rodriguez
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK
- Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK
- Correspondence:
| | - Katarzyna Korzeniowska
- Department of Pediatrics, Diabetology and Endocrinology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland; (K.K.); (M.M.)
| | - Kamila Szarejko
- PoZdro! Program Scientific Board, Medicover Foundation, 00-807 Warszawa, Poland; (K.S.); (H.B.); (M.R.); (P.S.)
| | - Hubert Borowski
- PoZdro! Program Scientific Board, Medicover Foundation, 00-807 Warszawa, Poland; (K.S.); (H.B.); (M.R.); (P.S.)
| | - Michał Brzeziński
- Department of Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Allergology & Nutrition, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland;
| | - Małgorzata Myśliwiec
- Department of Pediatrics, Diabetology and Endocrinology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland; (K.K.); (M.M.)
| | - Leszek Czupryniak
- Department of Diabetology and Internal Diseases, Warsaw Medical University, 02-091 Warszawa, Poland;
| | - Per-Olof Berggren
- The Rolf Luft Research Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden;
| | - Marcin Radziwiłł
- PoZdro! Program Scientific Board, Medicover Foundation, 00-807 Warszawa, Poland; (K.S.); (H.B.); (M.R.); (P.S.)
| | - Piotr Soszyński
- PoZdro! Program Scientific Board, Medicover Foundation, 00-807 Warszawa, Poland; (K.S.); (H.B.); (M.R.); (P.S.)
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