| Summary: | Background: Prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity (O) in children and adolescents has been increased in the past three decades. Obese children are prone to develop early cardiovascular (CV) morbidity in their adult life. Impaired arterial stiffness might be detected in this population. The aim of our study was to compare the arterial function parameters (AFPs) in O/OW patients and healthy subjects.
Methods: 6.816 subjects (3.668 boys) aged 3–18 years were recruited and categorised by their body mass index (BMI) into normal weight (N), OW and O groups regarding their age and sex. AFPs were measured by occlusive-oscillometric device. Propensity score matching was carried as statistical test.
Results: 19.9% (n = 1.356) of the population were OW/O, 911 (516 boys) were OW and 445 (273 boys) were O. PWVao did not differ significantly between N (5.9 ± 0.8 m/s) and OW patients (5.9 ± 0.8 m/s); and N (6.0 ± 0.7 m/s) and O patients (6.0 ± 0.8 m/s). Aixao was significantly lower in OW (9.3 ± 7.4% vs 7.6 ± 7.0%, p < 0.00001) and in O patients (9.7 ± 8.1% vs 6.6 ± 7.2%, p < 0.00001) compared to controls. No significant difference was found regarding SBPao values between controls and OW and O groups (N = 110.7 ± 12.4 mmHg vs OW = 110.3 ± 11.9 mmHg; N = 115.6 ± 14.0 mmHg vs O = 114.3 ± 12.8 mmHg).
Conclusions: Aortic stiffness – expressed by PWVao – did not differ between N and O/OW children and adolescents, however Aixao was remarkably, significantly lower in O/OW patients. We may conclude that the pathophysiological consequences in the circulatory system due to childhood OW/O are compensated hemodynamically in these patients, presumably by decreasing total peripheral vascular resistance.
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