Correlations between relevant indexes of chronic diseases and overweight and obesity in childhood

Objective To evaluate associations of relevant indexes of chronic diseases with overweight and obesity in childhood and to provide scientific evidences for the prevention of chronic diseases in adulthood.Methods With stratified cluster random sampling,2 870 children aged 10 to 14 years in three districts of Wuxi,Jiangsu province were selected and their height,weight,and blood pressure were measured.And 300 blood samples were collected from some of the children and the relevant biochemical indexes were detected.Results The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in the children were 11.39% and 2.23%,respectively.The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity of the boys were 14.77% and 2.41% and significantly higher than those of the girls(4.24% and 1.85%,P <0.01).The average systolic blood pressures of overweight and obese children were 102.64±10.36 and 104.05±12.80 mm Hg,respectively,and were significantly higher than that of the children with normal body weight(99.72±10.18 mm Hg,P <0.05). The concentration of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in the obese children was 1.30±0.20 mmol/L,which was significantly lower than that of normal children(1.57±0.33 mmol/L).Compared to the children with normal body weight,the obese children had higher concentrations of triglyceride(TG)(1.25±0.60 vs. 0.80±0.31 mmol/L),apolipoprotein B(ApoB)(0.83±0.22 vs. 0.68±0.11 mmol/L),insulin(17.97±8.44 vs. 11.19±6.04 mU/L),c-peptide (C-P) (0.75±0.43 vs. 0.35±0.20 pmol/mL),and insulin resistance index(3.96±2.22 vs. 2.36±1.33)(all P <0.05).In addition,the overweight children had an increased risk (odds ratio OR=1.03,95% confidence interval 95%CI:0.36-2.97) and the obese children had a significantly increased risk(OR=5.77,95%CI:1.41-23.69) of insulin resistance.Conclusion The prevalence level of overweight and obesity in the children aged 10 to 14 years in Wuxi city was between those in the children living in rich rural areas and in small or middle-sized cities in China.Obesity is an important influencing factor for high blood pressure and glucose and lipid metabolism among the children.