Ethnic differences in cardiometabolic risk profile in an overweight/obese paediatric cohort in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Differences in prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors between different ethnic groups are largely unknown. We determined the variation in cardiometabolic risk profile according to ethnicity in a cohort overweight/obese Dutch children.

Early origins of ethnic disparities in cardiovascular risk factors

“…Cardiovascular disease risk factors track from childhood to adulthood (Forouhi and Sattar, 2006;Organization WH, 2010). In the US, black and Hispanic children had higher prevalences of metabolic syndrome components than white children (Walker et al, 2012;Johnson et al, 2009;Sharma et al, 2004). In Europe, not much is known about ethnic differences in cardiovascular risk factors in childhood.…”

“…US studies suggested that disparities in cardiovascular disease between blacks and whites are explained by traditional risk factors (Walker et al, 2012;Berry et al, 2012). Also, previous studies in European countries reported higher prevalences of cardiovascular risk factors among specific ethnic groups, such as South Asians, compared to Europeans (Whincup et al, 2002;Hemmings et al, 2011).…”

Impaired quality of life in treatment-seeking obese children of Dutch, Moroccan, Turkish and Surinamese descent

“…Subjects were excluded if they did not have sufficient understanding of the Dutch language or if children had a genetic syndrome or developmental disabilities. Part of this cohort is described in a previous paper, showing a heterogeneous group with no acute complications and some co-morbidities including metabolic syndrome (25 %), hypertension (20 %), impaired glucose metabolism (16 %) and hypercholesterolaemia (13 %) (4) .…”

“…In the Netherlands, almost one child out of seven is either overweight (10 %) or obese (3 %) (2) and this figure is even higher in non-white children, mainly originating from Morocco, Turkey and Suriname (3,4) . The increasing prevalence and severity of obesity in children and adolescents has resulted in greater emphasis on the prevention and treatment of obesity and its accompanying cardiometabolic risk factors and associated co-morbidities (i.e.…”

The multiplicity and situationality of enacting ‘ethnicity’ in Dutch health research articles

“…Van Vliet et al (2009) set out to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among overweight and obese children in three major ethnic groups in the Netherlands, namely among individuals from the Dutch, Turkish, and Moroccan communities. The authors assert that the premise underlying this research is the global increase in obesity and its accompanying health risks.…”