Prevalence of, and biochemical and anthropometric risk factors for, dyslipidemia in children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years in China: A cross-sectional study.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of dyslipidemia and its risk factors in children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November, 2013 to July, 2014. A total of 2283 children and adolescents from urban and rural areas in Hainan (South China) and Shaanxi Provinces (Northwest China) were selected using multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method. Each participant underwent anthropometric and serum biochemical tests which included serum lipids and hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg). The overall prevalence of high total cholesterol (TC), high triglyceride (TG), high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), hyperlipidemia and dyslipidemia were 6.5%, 7.5%, 5.2%, 9.1%, 14.3%, and 20.6%, respectively. After standardization by age, girls had higher prevalence of high TC (8.2%), high LDL-C (6.6%), and hyperlipidemia (16.4%), but lower prevalence of low HDL-C (8.21%) than boys (4.2%, 3.4%, 11.9%, and 11.3%, respectively). The risk of dyslipidemia increased with age (OR = 1.067, 95% CI: 1.030-1.106). Boys had a decreased risk of dyslipidemia (OR = 0.798, 95% CI: 0.640-0.994). The restricted cubic spline revealed a linear relationship between BMI and the risk of dyslipidemia (P < .001). Subjects who were HBsAg positive had higher risk of dyslipidemia (OR = 1.550, 95% CI: 1.050-2.287) compared with those who were HBsAg negative. Our study highlights the high prevalence of dyslipidemia in youth in China, and is the first study to reveal a positive association between positive status for HBsAg and abnormal lipid levels in children and adolescents.