Abstract
The independent associations of body composition and physical fitness components with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in childhood are not fully understood. Thus, this cross-sectional study examined the independent associations of body composition and physical fitness with CVD risk factors in Swedish 9-year-old children (n = 411). Unadjusted linear regression analyses showed that body mass index (BMI), % fat mass and fat mass index were all positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) score (all β ≥ 0.229, P ≤ 0.001). These associations were virtually unaffected by adjustments for basic covariates (child’s age and sex, maternal educational level and maternal BMI), fat-free mass and physical fitness. Fat-free mass index had generally weak associations with CVD risk factors and no associations were statistically significant after adjustments (all P > 0.27). Greater cardiorespiratory fitness and motor fitness were associated with lower HOMA-IR and MetS score in unadjusted models (all β ≤ − 0.158, P ≤ 0.039) but not after adjustments for basic covariates and body composition. These findings indicate that cardiovascular health promotion in childhood may focus on the maintenance of a healthy fat mass.
Highlights
The independent associations of body composition and physical fitness components with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in childhood are not fully understood
Greater cardiorespiratory fitness and motor fitness were associated with lower Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) score, associations were strongly attenuated by the adjustments for other covariates including body composition
We found that body composition was strongly associated with physical fitness which extends our previous findings in preschool aged children[19] and previous studies in children that have not examined the combined association of fat mass and fat-free mass on physical fitness
Summary
The independent associations of body composition and physical fitness components with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in childhood are not fully understood. Unadjusted linear regression analyses showed that body mass index (BMI), % fat mass and fat mass index were all positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) score (all β ≥ 0.229, P ≤ 0.001) These associations were virtually unaffected by adjustments for basic covariates (child’s age and sex, maternal educational level and maternal BMI), fat-free mass and physical fitness. Physical fitness and in particular cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with a more favorable CVD risk profile already in childhood[16,17] and there is some evidence that high fitness may attenuate the negative effects of obesity on later cardiovascular h ealth[6,18] It is not fully examined whether the associations of physical fitness are influenced by accounting for accurately measured body composition (i.e., fat mass and fat-free mass) and vice versa. The aim of this study was to investigate the independent associations of body composition and physical fitness with risk factors for cardiovascular disease (i.e. blood pressure, HOMA-IR and a composite MetS score) in 9-year-old children
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