Objective  To examine associations of overweight and obesity with vascular structure damage in children and to provide evidences for the prevention and control of risk factors of cardiovascular disease during childhood.

  Methods  From November 2017 to January 2018, a total of 1 319 children aged 6 to 11 years were selected from one public primary school in Huantai county of Shandong province using convenient cluster sampling. The children were assigned into normal weight, overweight and obese groups based on body mass index (BMI). Covariance analyses were used to compare differences in carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) across different BMI groups. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to explore associations of overweight and obesity with vascular structure damage.

  Results  After adjusting for confounding factors including gender, age, daily sleep time, daily screen time, frequency of daily vegetable and fruit intake, frequency of weekly carbonated beverage intake, daily physical activity time, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the cIMT of the children in overweight group and obese group were 0.469 ± 0.083 mm and 0.502 ± 0.093 mm, respectively, which were much higher than that in the children of normal weight group (0.453 ± 0.068 mm) (P < 0.05). The cIMT of boys in overweight group and obese group were 0.485 ± 0.082 mm and 0.521 ± 0.092 mm, which were much higher than that in the boys of normal weight group (0.467 ± 0.070 mm) (P < 0.05). The cIMT of girls in overweight group and obese group were 0.449 ± 0.077 mm and 0.480 ± 0.088 mm, which were much higher than that in the girls of normal weight group (0.437 ± 0.064 mm) (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the risks of high cIMT among the children with overweight or obesity were 3.38 times (odds ratio OR = 3.38, 95% confidence interval 95% CI = 1.67 – 6.86) and 17.39 times (OR = 17.39, 95% CI = 9.97 – 30.35) higher than those with normal weight for all the children; for the boys, the risk of high cIMT among those with overweight or obesity were 6.41 times (OR = 6.41, 95% CI = 1.61 – 25.56) and 41.73 times (OR = 41.73, 95% CI = 12.58 – 138.41) higher than those with normal weight; whereas, for the girls, the risk of high cIMT among those with overweight or obesity were 3.02 times (OR = 3.02, 95% CI = 1.24 – 7.36) and 12.38 times (OR = 12.38, 95% CI = 6.16 – 24.86) higher than those with normal weight.

  Conclusion  Overweight and obesity may increase the risk of vascular structure damage in children. Prevention and control of childhood overweight and obesity may reduce vascular structural damage during childhood.