Trunk-to-peripheral fat ratio predicts subsequent blood pressure levels in pubertal children with relatively low body fat -three-year follow-up study

Abstract

Background: Only a few studies have examined the relationship between fat distribution measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and blood pressure (BP), and no cohort study has targeted a pediatric population. Methods and Results: The source population comprised all students registered as fifth graders in the 2 elementary schools in Hamamatsu, Japan. Of these, 258 children participated in both baseline (at age 11) and follow-up (at age 14) surveys. Body fat distribution was assessed using trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAR) and trunk-to-leg fat ratio (TLR) measured by DXA. Relationships between BP levels and fat distribution (TAR or TLR) were examined after stratification by tertiles of whole-body fat. Systolic BP at follow-up was significantly (P<0.05) associated with both TAR (boys, β=0.33; girls β=0.36) and TLR (girls β=0.35) at baseline, after adjusting for confounding factors such as baseline BP in the lowest tertile of whole-body fat. Moreover, adjusted means of systolic and diastolic BPs in girls showed a significant increase from the lowest to highest tertile of TAR within the lowest tertile of whole-body fat. Conclusions: Body fat distribution in childhood could predict subsequent BP levels in adolescence. Children with a relatively low body fat that is more centrally distributed tended to show relatively high BP later on.