Abstract
The relationship between adiposity and cardiac dimensions were considered in healthy 9- to 18-year-old boys (n=198) and girls (n=154). Indicators of adiposity included the body mass index (BMI), sum of skinfolds (SSF) and trunk-to-extremity ratio (TER). The following left ventricular (LV) dimensions were measured by echocardiography: internal diameter (LVIDd); posterior wall thickness (PWT) and intraventricular septal wall thickness. LV mass (LVM) was estimated. In boys, 11 of 45 correlations were significant. The magnitude of the correlations increased across age groups and most of the correlations were significant in the oldest age group. In girls, 18 of 45 correlations were significant, but there were inconsistent patterns in the magnitude of the correlations across age groups. Correlations between BMI and LVIDd and LVM were highest in youth 13–15 years, whereas other correlations involving the BMI were rather constant across age groups. Correlations involving SSF were significant only in 9–12 and 13–15 year olds. There were no significant correlations involving TER in female subjects. In the total sample of boys, only correlations between the BMI and LV parameters were significant (r=0.14–0.38), except for the relationship between SSF and PWT (r=0.21). The TER was weakly associated with LV parameters. In the total sample of girls, correlations for LV parameters were significant for both the BMI (r=0.20–0.43) and SSF (r=0.18–0.28; except for LVIDd). TER was not significantly related to LV parameters except LVIDd (r=0.16). The findings indicate that the BMI is an important determinant of LV structure.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berenson GS, Srinivasan SR, Bao W, Newman WP, Tracy RE, Wattigney WA . Association between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in children and young adults. N Engl J Med 1998; 338(23): 1650–1656.
Ogden CL, Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Johnson CL . Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999–2000. JAMA 2002; 288(14): 1728–1732.
Eisenmann JC . Secular trends in variables associated with the metabolic syndrome of North American children and adolescents. Am J Hum Biol 2003; 15: 786–794.
Schunkert H . Obesity and target organ damage: the heart. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002; 26(Suppl 4): S15–S20.
Daniels SD, Meyer RA, Loggie JMH . Determinants of cardiac involvement in children and adolescents with essential hypertension. Circulation 1990; 82: 1243–1248.
Casale PN, Devereux RB, Milner M, Zullo G, Harshfield GA, Pickering TG et al. Value of echocardiographic measurement of left ventricular mass in predicting cardiovascular morbid events in hypertensive men. Ann Intern Med 1986; 105: 173–178.
Kannel WB, Castelli WP, McNamara PM, McKee P, Feinleib P . Role of blood pressure in the development of congestive heart failure: the Framingham Study. N Engl J Med 1972; 287: 781–787.
Daniels SR, Kimball TR, Morrison JA, Khoury P, Witt S, Meyer RA . Effect of lean body mass, fat mass, blood pressure, and sexual maturation on left ventricular mass in children and adolescents: statistical, biological, and clinical significance. Circulation 1995; 92: 3249–3254.
Daniels SR, Morrison JA, Sprecher DL, Khoury P, Kimball TR . Association of body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents. Circulation 1999; 99: 541–545.
Gutin B, Treiber F, Owens S, Mensah GA . Relations of body composition to left ventricular geometry and function in children. J Pediatr 1998; 132(6): 1023–1027.
Hanevold C, Waller J, Daniels SR, Portman R, Sorof J . The effects of obesity, gender, and ethnic group on left ventricular hypertrophy and geometry in hypertensive children: a collaborative study of the International Pediatric Hypertension Association. Pediatrics 2004; 113: 328–333.
Humphries MC, Gutin B, Barbeau P, Vemulapalli S, Allison J, Owens S . Relations of adiposity and effects of training on the left ventricle in obese youths. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002; 34(9): 1428–1435.
Urbina EM, Gidding SS, Bao W, Pickoff AS, Berdusis K, Berenson GS . Effect of body size, ponderosity, and blood pressure on left ventricular growth in children and young adults in the Bogalusa Heart Study. Circulation 1995; 91(9): 2400–2406.
Kono Y, Yoshinaga M, Oku S, Nomura Y, Nakamura M, Aihoshi S . Effect of obesity on echocardiographic parameters in children. Int J Cardiol 1994; 46(1): 7–13.
Pfleiger KL, Treiber FA, Davis H, McCaffrey FM, Raunikar RA, Strong WB . The effect of adiposity on children's left ventricular mass and geometry and haemodynamic responses to stress. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1994; 18(2): 117–122.
Mensah GA, Treiber FA, Kapuku GK, Davis H, Barnes VA, Strong WB . Patterns of body fat deposition in youth and their relation to left ventricular markers of adverse cardiovascular prognosis. Am J Cardiol 1999; 84: 583–588.
Malcolm DD, Burns TL, Mahoney LT, Lauer RM . Factors affecting left ventricular mass in childhood: the Muscatine Study. Pediatrics 1993; 92(5): 703–709.
Janz KF, Burns TL, Mahoney LT . Predictors of left ventricular mass and resting blood pressure in children: the Muscatine Study. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1996; 27(6): 818–825.
Papavassiliou DP, Treiber FA, Strong WB, Malpass DG, Davis H . Anthropometric, demographic, and cardiovascular predictors of left ventricular mass in young children. Am J Cardiol 1996; 78: 323–326.
Bjorntorp P . Abdominal fat distribution and disease: an overview of epidemiological data. Ann Med 1992; 24: 15–18.
Henry W, Gardin J, Ware J . Echocardiographic measurements in normal subjects from infancy to old age. Circulation 1980; 62: 1054–1060.
Epstein M, Goldberg S, Allen H, Konecke L, Wood J . Great vessels, cardiac chamber, and wall growth patterns in normal children. Circulation 1975; 67: 1124–1129.
Daniels SR, Meyer RA, Liang Y, Bove KE . Echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass index in children, adolescents, and young adults. J Am Coll Cardiol 1988; 12: 703–708.
Malina RM, Bouchard C, Bar-Or O . Growth, Maturation, and Physical Activity, 2nd edn. Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL, 2004.
Bouchard C . Genetic epidemiology, association, and sib-pair linkage: results from the Québec Family Study. In: Bray GA, Ryan DH (eds). Molecular and Genetic Aspects of Obesity, vol. 5. Louisiana State University Press: Baton Rouge, LA, 1996, pp 470–481.
Weiner JS, Lourie JA . Human Biology: A Guide to Field Methods. Blackwell Science: Oxford, 1969.
Bouchard C . Reproducibility of body composition and adipose tissue measurements in humans. In: Roche AF (ed). Body Composition Assessments in Youth and Adults: Report of the Sixth Ross Conference on Medical Research. Ross Laboratories: Columbus, OH, 1985, pp 9–14.
Sahn DJ, DeMaria A, Kisslo J, Weyman A . Recommendations regarding quantitation in M-mode echocardiography: results of a survey of echocardiographic measurements. Circulation 1978; 58(6): 1072–1083.
Devereux R, Reichek N . Echocardiographic determination of left ventricular mass in man: anatomic validation of the method. Circulation 1977; 55: 613–618.
de Simone G, Daniels SR, Devereux RB, Meyer RA, Roman MJ, de Divitiis O et al. Left ventricular mass and body size in normotensive children and adults assessment of allometric relations and impact of overweight. J Am Coll Cardiol 1992; 20(5): 1251–1260.
Katzmarzyk PT, Malina RM, Song TM, Theriault G, Bouchard C . Physique and echocardiographic dimensions in children, adolescents, and young adults. Ann Hum Biol 1998; 25(2): 145–157.
Mitchell BM, Gutin B, Kapuku GK, Barbeau P, Humphries MC, Owens S et al. Left ventricular structure and function in obese adolescents: relations to cardiovascular fitness, percent body fat, visceral adiposity, and effects of physical training. Pediatrics 2002; 109(5): e73.
Arnett DK, de las Fuentes L, Broekel U . Genes for left ventricular hypertrophy. Curr Hypertens Rep 2004; 6(1): 36–41.
Bouchard C, Malina RM, Perusse L . Genetics of Fitness and Physical Performance. Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL, 1997.
Acknowledgements
The Québec Family Study was supported over the years by the Fonds pour la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche du Québec (FCAR), Health Canada and the Medical Research Council of Canada. C Bouchard is partially supported by the George A Bray Chair in Nutrition.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Eisenmann, J., Malina, R., Tremblay, A. et al. Adiposity and cardiac dimensions among 9- to 18-year-old youth: the Québec Family Study. J Hum Hypertens 21, 114–119 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002116
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002116
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Impact of Sex and Obesity on Echocardiographic Parameters in Children and Adolescents
Pediatric Cardiology (2022)
-
Impact of Childhood Obesity on Cardiac Structure and Function
Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine (2014)