Use of Anthropometry Versus Ultrasound for the Assessment of Body Fat and Comorbidities in Children With Obesity

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to examine the association between abdominal fat measured by ultrasound and anthropometric indices in children with obesity, and those with normal weight. We also examined the association between anthropometry and fat measures in the prediction of comorbidities in children with obesity. Methods: Forty children with body mass index of >95th percentile were included as cases, and a comparable group of 32 healthy average-weight peers were included as controls in this study. All children underwent clinical assessment, anthropometric measures, and evaluation of abdominal subcutaneous fat (SCF) and visceral fat by ultrasound. Fasting blood sugar, serum transaminases, and lipid profile of all the included children were also evaluated. Results: Children with obesity had a mean age of 8.7 ± 2.9 years (range 3–13). The SCF and intraperitoneal fat (IPF) values correlated well with each other and with anthropometric measurements in children with obesity. Among all the included cases, 90% were metabolically unhealthy, 70% had hypertension, 52.5% had dyslipidemia, and 22.5% had echogenic liver. Anthropometric measures, abdominal SCF and IPF were higher in children with complications. SCF was observed as a good predictor for hepatic echogenicity among the measured ultrasound parameters (P: 0.03, odds ratio 4.6). The best cutoff value for SCF in cases with hepatic echogenicity was 23.2 mm with an overall accuracy of 80%. Conclusions: In children with obesity, abdominal SCF and IPF correlated well with anthropometric measures and were higher in children with comorbidities. This finding, however, did not predict comorbidities apart from those with echogenic liver.

Sonographic Markers Are Useful for Detection of Early Vascular Deterioration in Children with Overweight/Obesity: Effect of a 1-Year Combined Nutritional Education and Physical Exercise Program

“…In any case, the present study demonstrates that as anthropometric parameters improved, liver echogenicity and shear index also improved, not only in those children with obesity but also in the group of children with normal weight. This is in line with the observations of El-Koofy et al, which showed that altered anthropometric measurements and intraperitoneal fat were associated with liver echogenicity [ 37 ]. In children with obesity with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, arterial function may be restored by improving metabolic risk factors following a 1-year program with diet and physical exercise intervention.…”

Paediatric Hypertension in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Of the 53 studies, 37 reported obesity and/or overweight prevalence in their respective samples [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] , [64] , [65] , [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] , [70] , with the prevalence of obesity ranging from 0·3% to 50% These studies consistently found a higher prevalence of elevated BP and/or hypertension in participants with obesity, overweight, or central obesity. A case-control study where authors compared prevalence of hypertension in children with and with out obesity found that only the children in the obesity group had hypertension (25%), and this group had significantly more cases of elevated BP than the non-obesity group (19·4% vs 6·5%) (Chedjou-Nono et al [68] ).…”

“…Moreover, studies measuring BP on at least two occasions to define hypertension had significantly lower hypertension prevalence than studies categorizing hypertension based on measurements on a single occasion (4·8% [95%CI 3·3-6·5] vs 8·0% [95% CI 5·9-10·5], p=0·018). Only two studies did not report multiple measures on different occasions or at least 2 measures on one occasion, [34 , 44] one of which statistically adjusted for this according to a reference standard [44] . When omitting the remaining study, the pooled hypertension prevalence was 7.0 (4.9-9.4) (Supplementary figure 13).…”

“…There were significant differences seen between the different African regions (Northern (15·2%), Eastern (9·5%), Central (1·6%), Southern (7·9%) and Western (6·0%)). Though this may result from limited data in this area, with only three studies from Northern Africa included in the meta-analyses, and one in particular (El-Koofy et al [34] ) reporting significantly higher levels of hypertension and obesity compared to other studies in the North African region.…”

Paediatric Hypertension in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In terms of diagnostic methodology, a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension was found for studies using automated [34,44] one of which statistically adjusted for this according to a reference standard [44]. When omitting the remaining study, the pooled hypertension prevalence was 7.0 (4.9-9.4) (Supplementary figure 13).…”