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Speer KE, Koenig J, Telford RM, Olive LS, Mara JK, Semple S, Naumovski N, Telford RD, McKune AJ. Relationship between heart rate variability and body mass index: A cross-sectional study of preschool children. Prev Med Rep 2021; 24:101638. [PMID: 34976689 PMCID: PMC8684011 DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Heart rate variability and BMI are inversely related in preschool children. One unit increase in BMI resulted in a reduction in RMSSD(ln) of 0.06% Age, sex and physical activity levels did not influence this relationship.
Reduced heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with overweight and obesity in adults. However, little is known about this relationship in early childhood. We investigated the relationship between resting vagally-mediated HRV and body mass index (BMI) in Australian preschool children. Children were recruited from 13 non-government early learning centres located in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. From this population-based sample, data from 146 healthy children (58 females) between 3 and 5 years of age (mean age 4.35 ± 0.44 years) were analysed. BMI was calculated from child body weight and height. Physical activity was recorded using an Actigraph wGT3x accelerometer worn at the waist of participants over 3 consecutive days. A Polar H10 chest strap measured seated, resting RR intervals for the calculation of HRV with the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) reflecting vagally-mediated activity. The relationship between HRV and BMI was analysed using a linear mixed model adjusted for age, sex and physical activity. Analysis revealed that RMSSD (ln) demonstrated a significant inverse relationship with BMI (β = -0.06; 95% CI = -0.12 – −0.01; p = 0.032), and the model accounted for 23% of the variance in RMSSD (ln). Notably, a one unit increase in BMI resulted in a reduction in RMSDD (ln) of 0.06. This investigation demonstrated evidence for a significant inverse linear relationship between vagally-mediated HRV and BMI in 3 – 5-year-old Australian children, similar to that of adults. Furthermore, this relationship was independent of age, sex and physical activity levels. Results may indicate that the cardiometabolic health of preschool children is, in part, influenced by the relationship between vagally-mediated HRV and weight status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Speer
- Faculty of Health, Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Research Institute for Sport and Exercise/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Julian Koenig
- University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Cologne, Germany
| | - Rohan M Telford
- Research Institute for Sport and Exercise/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Lisa S Olive
- Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.,IMPACT, The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jocelyn K Mara
- Faculty of Health, Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Research Institute for Sport and Exercise/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Stuart Semple
- Faculty of Health, Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Research Institute for Sport and Exercise/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Nenad Naumovski
- Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Functional Foods and Nutrition Research (FFNR) Laboratory, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.,Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens 17671, Greece
| | - Richard D Telford
- Research Institute for Sport and Exercise/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Andrew J McKune
- Faculty of Health, Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Research Institute for Sport and Exercise/University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Discipline of Biokinetics, Exercise and Leisure Sciences, School of Health Sciences/ University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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