Evaluation of Echocardiography as a Marker of Cardiovascular Risk in Obese Children and Adolescents

Background: Childhood obesity is a global epidemic and its prevalence has increased from the early 1970s to the 1990s. The objective of the study was to compare the echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular (LV) geometry between obese and non-obese children. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study with 71 individuals aged 7 - 11 years, from Ribeirao Preto metropolitan region, was conducted. Personal data (sex and date of birth) were obtained for each subject, as well as anthropometric measurements (weight, height and abdominal circumference), arterial pressure and an echocardiogram. The individuals were classified according to their nutritional status in “obese” and “non-obese” groups. Results: There was no difference in gender (P = 0.81), with 48.6% boys in obese group and 52.9% in non-obese group. Similarly, there was no difference in age (P = 0.72), with a mean of 106.97 ± 19.59 months in obese group and a mean of 105.50 ± 13.61 months in non-obese group. Systolic and diastolic pressure values were higher in obese group. The study showed LV mass, LV 3 index, systolic arterial pressure and diastolic arterial pressure when the two groups were compared. LV 1 index, LV 2 index and relative LV wall thickness did not differ between groups. Conclusion: The study contributes to demonstrate the importance of transthoracic echocardiography as a marker of cardiovascular risk in obese children and adolescents. Int J Clin Pediatr. 2014;3(3):72-78 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/ijcp164w