Metabolic Syndrome and Daily Ambulation in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults

Abstract

Purposes To compare daily ambulatory measures in children, adolescents, and young adults with and without metabolic syndrome, and to assess which metabolic syndrome components, demographic measures, and body composition measures are associated with daily ambulatory measures. Methods Two-hundred fifty subjects between the ages of 10 and 30 years were assessed on metabolic syndrome components, demographic and clinical measures, body fat percentage, and daily ambulatory strides, durations, and cadences during seven consecutive days. Forty-five of the 250 subjects had metabolic syndrome, as defined by the International Diabetes Federation. Results Subjects with metabolic syndrome ambulated at a slower daily average cadence than those without metabolic syndrome (13.6 ± 2.2 strides/min vs. 14.9 ± 3.2 strides/min; p=0.012), and they had slower cadences for continuous durations of 60 minutes (p=0.006), 30 minutes (p=0.005), 20 minutes (p=0.003), 5 minutes (p=0.002), and 1 minute (p=0.001). However, the total amount of time spent ambulating each day was not different (p=0.077). After adjustment for metabolic syndrome status, average cadence is linearly associated with body fat percentage (p<0.001) and fat mass (p<0.01). Group difference in average cadence was no longer significant after adjusting for body fat percentage (p=0.683) and fat mass (p=0.973). Conclusion Children, adolescents, and young adults with metabolic syndrome ambulate more slowly and take fewer strides throughout the day than those without metabolic syndrome, even though the total amount of time spent ambulating is not different. Furthermore, the detrimental influence of metabolic syndrome on ambulatory cadence is primarily a function of body fatness.

Accelerometer-determined peak cadence and weight status in children from São Caetano do Sul, Brazil

“…We reported negative associations between each of the peak cadence indicators studied and both BMI and BF%. Similarly Gardner et al 16 reported sex-adjusted differences in daily average cadence related to presence or absence of metabolic syndrome (14.9 versus 13.6 steps/min) in children, adolescents, and young adults. The lower values for peak cadence indicators in obese children should also be related to lower daily energy expenditure of physical activity 39 , setting the stage for long-term positive energy balance and exacerbating further increases in body weight and fatness.…”

“…A recent review has introduced the concept of using cadence as a way to study free-living ambulatory behavior 14 . Some studies have used accelerometer step counts to not only describe the total amount of daily ambulation but also different aspects of children's cadence [15][16][17] . In addition to analyzing cadence to describe movement it is also possible to measure and analyze patterns of peak cadence for different time increments.…”

“…The relationship between peak cadence and health related variables has been examined in children from developed countries [16][17][18] . Using data from the 2005-2006 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Barreira et al 18 reported negative associations between cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (in particular, HDL-C, blood pressure, and BMI) and each of the peak cadence indicators in children.…”

“…Peak 60-minute cadence was lower across groups of children with higher numbers of CVD risk factors (76 steps/min in those without any risk factors versus 67 steps/min in those with ≥ 2 risk factors) 18 . In addition, Gardner et al 16 reported that children, adolescents, and young adults with metabolic syndrome walked at lower daily average cadence than those without metabolic syndrome (27 versus 30 steps/min), and they had lower cadences for continuous durations of 60 min (31 versus 38 steps/min), 30 min (42 versus 50 steps/min), and 1 min (102 versus 110 steps/min). Although popular in use, there are relatively few studies that have used accelerometry to study children in developing countries like Brazil 4,20,21 .…”

Associations between objectively measured physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and risk factors for metabolic syndrome in 12- to 15-year-old Tianjin city children

“…The counts per minute monitored by an accelerometer have shown significant correlations with energy expenditure in various physical activities in children (Mattocks et al, 2007). There have been studies using accelerometers to evaluate PA in both US and European children, with the average measuring period lasting 3 to 7 days (Brage et al, 2004;Dencker et al, 2010;Gradner et al, 2013;Stone et al, 2009), but few data on objectively measured PA levels of Chinese children are available. Therefore, with the aim of studying whether daily PA levels display a correlation with the components of childhood MS, we conducted this study in Tianjin, a large city in North China.…”