Higher insulin, triglycerides, and blood pressure with greater trunk fat in Tanner 1 Chinese.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to investigate the body fat distribution pattern in prepubertal Chinese children and to investigate the relationship between central fat distribution and specific biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The study was conducted in an urban Mainland Chinese (Jinan, Shandong) sample of children using a cross-sectional design. Pubertal status was determined by Tanner criteria. Measurements included weight, height, waist circumference, DXA measures of total body fat and trunk fat; fasting serum measures of glucose, insulin, triglyceride, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol; and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Multiple regression models were developed with the biomarkers of cardiovascular risk factor as the dependent variables, and adjustments were made for significant covariates, including sex, age, height, weight, waist circumference, total body fat, trunk fat, and interactions.
RESULTS: A total of 247 healthy prepubertal subjects were studied. After co-varying for age, weight, height, and extremity fat (the sum of arm fat and leg fat), girls had greater trunk fat than boys (p<0.0001, R2 for model=0.95). Insulin and triglyceride were positively related to central fat measured by DXA-trunk fat (p<0.05) but not related to the waist circumference. In the blood pressure model, waist circumference was a significant predictor of both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, while DXA-trunk fat was associated with diastolic blood pressure only. Significant interactions between sex and trunk fat, and sex and total fat, were found in relation to diastolic blood pressure. DISCUSSION: In prepubertal Chinese children, greater trunk fat was significantly associated with higher insulin and triglyceride in boys and girls and was associated with higher diastolic blood pressure in boys only.