Abstract
Arterial stiffness is an important marker of vascular damage and a strong predictor of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Given that pathophysiological processes leading to an increased arterial stiffness begin during childhood, the aim of this clustered observational study was to determine the relationship between modifiable factors including dietary patterns and indices of aortic arterial stiffness and wave reflection in 9–11-year-old children. Data collection was conducted between April and December 2015 in 17 primary schools in Dunedin, New Zealand. Dietary data were collected using a previously validated food frequency questionnaire and identified using principal component analysis method. Arterial stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, PWV) and central arterial wave reflection (augmentation index, AIx) were measured using the SphygmoCor XCEL system (Atcor Medical, Sydney, Australia). Complete data for PWV and AIx analyses were available for 389 and 337 children, respectively. The mean age of children was 9.7 ± 0.7 years, 49.0% were girls and 76.0% were classified as “normal weight”. The two identified dietary patterns were “Snacks” and “Fruit and Vegetables”. Mean PWV and AIx were 5.8 ± 0.8 m/s and −2.1 ± 14.1%, respectively. There were no clinically meaningful relationships between the identified dietary pattern scores and either PWV or AIx in 9–11-year-old children.
Highlights
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), respiratory diseases and diabetes are estimated to account for 89% of all deaths in New Zealand
Given that pathophysiological processes underlying CVD begin in early childhood, and the same risk factors as in adulthood can be correlated with their progression, this study aimed to determine the association between dietary patterns and indices of aortic arterial stiffness (PWV) and arterial wave reflection (AIx) in a sample of 9–11-year-old children
Data on the remaining 389 children was used to perform pulse wave velocity (PWV)-related analyses, while augmentation index (AIx)-related analyses were based on data from 337 children due to the quality of the waveforms (Table 1)
Summary
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), respiratory diseases and diabetes are estimated to account for 89% of all deaths in New Zealand. NCDs in New Zealand accounting for 31% of the annual deaths across all age groups, while other. The pathophysiological processes underlying CVD begin during the first decade of life [3]. Pathophysiological processes include the changes to functional and structural characteristics of arteries, resulting in an increased aortic arterial stiffness measured as pulse wave velocity (PWV) and changes in indices of wave reflection, especially augmentation index (AIx) [4,5]. Both PWV and AIx are associated with lifestyle behaviours, including dietary intake [6,7,8,9]. In epidemiological and interventional studies of adults, healthier dietary patterns such as vegetable-rich dietary patterns were associated with lower levels of markers of arterial stiffness and wave reflection [5,6,7]
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