Abstract
Background: Pathologic obesity (classified according to the International Obesity Task Force, IOTF) has been associated with an early development of the metabolic syndrome. Within this context, an altered status of PUFA and their longer chain derivatives may play a role and has already been reported.
Methods: Fifteen obese (BMI 25.1–38.2, mean 30.6, SD 3.4) children (9 males, 6 females, mean age 10.9, SD 2.6, yrs) have been compared to 67 normal-weighing (BMI 12.4–17.5, mean 15.2, SD 1.2) children (39 males, 28 females, mean age 8.4, SD 0.9, yrs) as far as dietary habits (by means of a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire), macronutrient intakes (expressed as total energy %) and plasma fatty acid (FA) composition. The analysis of FA (expressed as FA%) was performed by means of capillary gas-chromatography after lipid extraction according to Folch. Statistics: parametric and non parametric tests, when appropriate.
Results: Compared to normal-weighing, obese children showed higher energy and lipid intakes, with lower carbohydrate intake (0.03 > p < 0.004). Within ingested lipids, obese showed higher levels of all the main FA families, including PUFA (5.4, SD 1.8, vs 4.3, SD 1.0, p = 0.02). Among plasma FA, obese children displayed lower levels of C22:6n-3 (1.1, SD 0.3, vs 1.7, SD 0.9, p = 0.01) and total n-3 long-chain PUFA (1.8, SD 0.5, vs 2.5, SD 1.4, p = 0.04) in spite of higher levels of the precursor C18:3n-3 (0.3, SD 0.1, vs 0.2, SD 0.1, p = 0.001). The C22:6n-3/C20:4n-6 ratio was lower in obese vs normal-weighing children (p= 0.001). At a bivariate analysis inclusive of all the study subjects, C22:6n-3 was inversely related to BMI.
Conclusion: In this report on pathologic obesity in childhood, excess of BMI is related to lower levels of C22:6–3 in spite of higher levels of the circulating precursor, C18:3 n-3. This observation, coupled with the higher levels of PUFA intake in obese children, may suggest a metabolic derangement in the synthetic pathway of the n-3 series.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verduci, E., Agostoni, C., Salvioni, M. et al. 265 Dietary Habits and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA) Status in Severely Obese vs Normal-Weighing Children. Pediatr Res 56, 509 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200409000-00288
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200409000-00288