Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children of Parents with the Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Our objective was to determine the impact of having one or both parents with metabolic syndrome (MS) on cardiometabolic risk in offspring. The sample comprised the first 300 families enrolled in QUALITY, a cohort of Caucasian children aged 8–10 years in Quebec among whom one or both biological parents had overall or abdominal obesity. Parental MS status was defined according to ATP III criteria. Plasma fasting lipids and glucose, and 2 h post-load glucose were measured in children. Mean (SD) age (years) was 9.8 (0.8) in the 166 boys and 9.5 (0.9) in the 128 girls. Most boys (91%) and 60% of girls were Tanner stage 1. The proportion of children with none, one or both parents with MS was 38%, 50% and 12%. Fasting triglycerides (TG) levels and the proportion of children with high TG (>1.25 mmol/L) increased significantly according to parental MS status (none, 1 or both parents with MS; p<0.0001). After adjustment for child age, sex, BMI Z score and Tanner stage, children with one or both parents with MS had TG concentrations 15% and 28% higher, respectively, than children with no parent with MS. In contrast, we detected no significant association between child TG concentrations and either parents' BMI (both p>0.6 after adjustment). Although mean fasting and 2 h post-load glucose in children were similar across parental MS status (both p>0.4), there was a trend towards increasing prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance according to parental MS status: 5%, 10% and 17% of children with none, 1 or both parents with MS, respectively (p=0.07). In conclusion, childhood cardiometabolic risk increases according to parental MS status independently of child BMI.