Impacts of overweight and obesity on cardiac structure and function among children

Objective To evaluate the impact of childhood overweight and obesity on cardiac structure and function.Methods A total of 1 034 children (aged between 8-9 years old;520 females) from 5 primary schools in Beijing,dividing into normalweight,overweight and obese group according to the sex and BMI.All the subjects underwent ultrasonic cardiogram for a complete assessment of cardiac structure and function.Results Compared with the normal weight group,obese boy showed increased aortic root dimension (AOD),interventricular septal thickness (IVSd),left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVIDd),left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWd),left ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV),left ventricular mass (LVM),stroke volume (SV),cardiac output (CO),and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) by 6.7%,13.4%,7.6%,15.3%,19.7%,34.6%,18.3%,23.7%,8.8%(P<0.01),while obese girls showed increased AOD,IVSd,LVIDd,LVPWd,EDV,LVM,SV,CO by 4.9%,9.1%,9.1%,12.1%,22.7%,32.9%,22.5%,26.0%.The overweight children showed increased LVPWd,EDV,LVM,SV,CO (P<0.01) compare with normal weight children.No differences in ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were found between obese/overweight groups with normal weight group.BMI was positively associated with AOD,IVSd,LVIDd,LVPWd,RWT,EDV,LVM,LVMI,HR,CO,SV (r=0.217,0.289,0.288,0.338,0.156,0.291,0.534,0.227,0.173,0.322,0.262,P<0.01) in males,while positive correlations were found between BMI and IVSd,LVIDd,LVPWd,EDV,LVM,LVMI,CO,SV in females (r=0.146,0.322,0.224,0.329,0.444,0.158,0.288,0.287,P<0.01).Conclusion Alterations of cardiac structure and function are significant in overweight and obese boys and girls aged 8-9 years old,including increased left ventricular diameter,wall thickness and left ventricular mass and cardiac dysfunction.