Adverse childhood experiences are associated with cardiometabolic risk among Hispanic American adolescents

Objective To assess the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and cardiometabolic risk among Hispanic adolescents. Study design This cross-sectional study was conducted at an academic research center in Gainesville, Florida. Participants were locally recruited, and data were collected from June 2016 to July 2018. Participants (n = 133, 60.2% female) were healthy adolescents aged 15-21 years who self-identified as Hispanic, were born in the US, and had a body mass index (BMI) between ≥18.5 and ≤40 kg/m2. Primary outcomes were BMI, body fat percentage, waist circumference, and resting blood pressure. Associations between ACEs and cardiometabolic measures were assessed by multivariable logistic regression models, which controlled for sex, age, parental education, and food insecurity. Results were sex-stratified to assess potential variations. Results Reporting ≥4 ACEs (28.6%) was significantly associated with a greater BMI (P = .004), body fat percentage (P = .02), and diastolic blood pressure (P = .05) compared with reporting Conclusions Hispanic adolescent participants who experienced ≥4 ACEs were more likely to have elevated risk markers of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. Further research is needed to elucidate the physiological mechanisms driving these relationships.