Childhood Fat and Lean Mass

Objective— Childhood body mass index (BMI) has been related to vascular structure and function. However, little is known about the differing contributions of fat and lean mass to this relationship. Our objectives were to relate the fat and lean mass (bone excluded) components of BMI (fat mass index and lean mass index; mass [kg]/height [m]2) to vascular measures in prepubertal children. Approach and Results— In the UK Southampton Women’s Survey mother-offspring cohort, 983 children had dual x-ray absorptiometry and vascular measurements at 8 to 9 years. Using linear regression analyses, we found that most vascular measures were related to BMI, but fat and lean mass contributed differently. Systolic blood pressure was positively associated with both fat mass index (β=0.91 [95% CI, 0.52–1.30] mm Hg) and lean mass index (β=2.16 [95% CI, 1.47–2.85] mm Hg), whereas pulse rate was positively associated with fat mass index (β=0.93 [95% CI, 0.48–1.38] b/min) but negatively associated with lean mass index (β=−1.79...