Relative handgrip strength, nutritional status and abdominal obesity in Chilean adolescents

Abstract

Handgrip strength (HGS) is a well-established indicator of muscle strength and can help to identify risk of sarcopenic obesity in children. This study explores the relationship between adiposity and muscular strength in healthy Chilean adolescents. Adolescents (n = 491) aged 10-17 were selected from five schools in Santiago, Chile. HGS was determined by dynamometry. Anthropometry (weight, height, waist and mid arm circumference), physical activity and socioeconomic status were also measured. Relative HGS (RHGS) was calculated by dividing maximum HGS of the dominant hand by body-mass index (BMI) and low RHGS was categorized as <25 th percentile by sex. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between two markers of adiposity (abdominal obesity category by waist circumference and nutritional status measured by BMI category) and low RHGS, adjusting for possible confounding variables. Participants were on average 13.6y (2.4), 32.8% were overweight or obese and 37.5% were at risk of or had abdominal obesity. RHGS was 1.25 kg/kg/m 2 overall, with a significant difference by sex (1.51 for boys versus 1.14 for girls). In adjusted analyses, boys and girls with risk of abdominal obesity, had 3.3 (1.6-6.6) and 4.1 (1.8-9.3) increased odds of low RHGS, respectively, compared to boys and girls with normal waist circumference. Those with abdominal obesity compared to normal WC, had 8.5 (3.4-21.4) and 6.5 (2.0-21.3) increased odds of low RHGS for boys and girls, respectively. We observed similar associations for BMI category. In our sample of healthy adolescents, higher adiposity related to greater odds of low muscle strength measured by dynamometry. Considering the demographic shift from a young to an aging population in many countries, along with the increasing prevalence of obesity beginning in childhood, understanding how adiposity relates to low muscle strength is of growing importance.

Muscular Strength of Upper and Lower Limbs and Self-Esteem in Chilean SchoolChildren: Independent Associations with Body Composition Indicators

“…Regarding the differences in muscular strength between boys and girls found in this study, these results are related to other studies that found higher values in children. In a study by Palacio-Agüero et al [ 34 ], the 50th percentile for hand grip muscle strength ranged from 17.9 to 31.5 kg for boys and from 17.5 to 24.1 for girls. The differences were more marked after the age of 14.…”

Coordinación motriz y capacidad cardiorrespiratoria en adolescentes de enseñanza básica de dos establecimientos educacionales de Antofagasta, Chile

“…Así como, el salto longitudinal a pies juntos, que coincide con los valores medios obtenidos en el estudio de Sepulveda et al 35 , que analizaron la relación entre adiposidad corporal y salto horizontal en 812 adolescentes entre 10 a 16,9 años, creando curvas de percentiles para estas variables en ambos sexos. Además, se identificaron diferencias significativas por sexo para la fuerza de prensión manual, concordando con los recientes estudios de Palacio-Agüero et al 36 , que estudiaron la fuerza de prensión manual, estado nutricional y obesidad abdominal en 491 adolescentes entre 10 a 17 años de 5 establecimientos educacionales de la ciudad de Santiago, mostrando mayores valores en los adolescentes varones para la fuerza de prensión manual en la mano dominante, y ambas manos.…”

Association between Relative Handgrip Strength and Chronic Lower Back Pain: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

“…There was an interval of at least 30 s between each trial, and the highest recorded value was used for analysis [23]. RHGS was calculated by dividing the maximum HGS of the dominant hand by body mass index (BMI) [24]. Using the 50th percentile as a cut-off for males and females, the participants were divided into two groups, weak and strong HGS groups.…”