Body fatness and its relationships with lipid profile in Senegalese school-aged children

Full text: Introduction: Childhood obesity is a serious public health challenge with an increased risk of dyslipidemia and related health issues including coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke. This study aimed to investigate the association between body fatness and fasting plasma lipid concentrations among Senegalese school-aged children. Methods: The study was conducted under the ROUND-IT (Reducing Obesity Using Nuclear Techniques To Design Interventions) study and involved 147 pupils, 8-11 years old (73 boys, 74 girls) randomly selected from elementary public schools in urban area of Dakar. Weight and height was measured and BMI-for-age z-score calculated. Body fatness (%BF) was determined using the criterion deuterium dilution technique. Fasting plasma lipid concentrations including total cholesterol (TCH), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-c), triglycerides (TG) were measured by Immunoturbidimetry and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-c) calculated according to Friedman's formula. Linear regressions were performed to investigate the associations between %BF and plasma lipid concentrations. Results: The prevalence of excess fatness was 11.3% (%BF ≥25% in boys, and ≥30% in girls), while that of overweight/obesity using BMI z-score was 4.6%. %BF was 16.8 [CI 95%: 15.4-18.9] and was significantly lower (P<0.01) in boys (13.5) than in girls (19.4). Gender and age differences were not found in lipids profile, but mean TCH and LDL-c differ significantly across level of body fatness (P<0.001). Children with excess body fat presented higher mean TCH and LDL-c than their normal peers (TCH: 217±44 mg/L vs. 186±40 mg/L, P=0.003 and LDL-c: 189±47 vs. 153±45 mg/L, P=0.0025). A significant correlation was observed between %BF and TG (r= 0.206; P=0.012), TCH (r=0.179; P=0.030) and LDL-C (r=0.184; P=0.025). Conclusion : Excess body fatness is significantly associated with abnormal lipid concentrations among Senegalese school children in urban setting. (author)