Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jun;17(4):300-8.
doi: 10.1111/pedi.12292. Epub 2015 Jun 17.

Cardiometabolic risk: leg fat is protective during childhood

Hanen Samouda  1 , Carine De Beaufort  2 , Saverio Stranges  1 , Marco Hirsch  3 , Jean-Paul Van Nieuwenhuyse  4 , Georges Dooms  4 , Georges Gilson  5 , Olivier Keunen  6 , Sonia Leite  7 , Michel Vaillant  8 , Marie-Lise Lair  1   8 , Frédéric Dadoun  1   9
Affiliations

Cardiometabolic risk: leg fat is protective during childhood

Hanen Samouda et al. Pediatr Diabetes. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity is associated with early cardiometabolic risk (CMR), increased risk of adulthood obesity, and worse health outcomes. Leg fat mass (LFM) is protective beyond total fat mass (TFM) in adults. However, the limited evidence in children remains controversial.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between LFM and CMR factors in youth.

Subjects: A total of 203 overweight/obese children, 7-17-yr-old, followed in the Pediatric Clinic, Luxembourg.

Methods: TFM and LFM by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and a detailed set of CMR markers were analyzed.

Results: After TFM, age, sex, body mass index (BMI) Z-score, sexual maturity status, and physical activity adjustments, negative significant partial correlations were shown between LFM and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA) (variance explained: 6.05% by LFM*; 7.18% by TFM**), fasting insulin (variance explained: 5.71% by LFM*; 6.97% by TFM**), triglycerides (variance explained: 3.96% by LFM*; 2.76% by TFM*), systolic blood pressure (variance explained: 2.68% by LFM*; 4.33% by TFM*), C-reactive protein (variance explained: 2.31% by LFM*; 4.28% by TFM*), and resistin (variance explained: 2.16% by LFM*; 3.57% by TFM*). Significant positive partial correlations were observed between LFM and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (variance explained: 4.16% by LFM*) and adiponectin (variance explained: 3.09% by LFM*) (*p-value < 0.05 and **p-value < 0.001). In order to adjust for multiple testing, Benjamini-Hochberg method was applied and the adjusted significance level was determined for each analysis. LFM remained significant in the aforementioned models predicting HOMA, fasting insulin, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol (Benjamini and Hochberg corrected p-value < 0.01).

Conclusions: LFM is protective against CMR in children, at least in terms of insulin resistance and adverse blood lipid profiles.

Keywords: DXA; cardiometabolic risk; fat mass; leg fat; visceral fat.

PubMed Disclaimer