Association of lipid profile and BMI Z-score in southern Iranian children and adolescents

Abstract

Background Heart disease has been the leading cause of death for decades in the US population. Dyslipidemia is the most important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and it often starts during childhood. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed in a growth assessment clinic in the city of Shiraz to determine the relation between body mass index (BMI) and dyslipidemia among children and teenagers aged 2-18 years. Nine hundred and eighty-nine children including 422 boys and 567 girls were selected. Results Adjusted for age and gender, total cholesterol (TC) (r = 0.172, p = 0.000), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) (r = 0.176, p = 0.000), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-c) (r = 0.227, p = 0.000) and triglycerides (TG) (r = 0.253, p = 0.000) showed a significant positive correlation with BMI Z-score, and HDL-c showed a significant negative correlation with BMI Z-score (r = -0.131, p = 0.000). Adjusted for age and gender, overweight and obese children were 1.882 times more likely to have high TC levels (p = 0.009), 2.236 times more likely to have high non-HDL-c levels (p = 0.000) and 3.176 times more likely to have high TG levels (p = 0.000) in comparison with children who had a healthy weight. Obese children had the highest percentage of isolated TG dyslipidemia (23.1%) and underweight children had the highest percentage of isolated HDL dyslipidemia (15.6%). Conclusions There is a strong link between atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and the level of blood lipids and between blood lipids and BMI Z-score. The first step in preventing ASCVD is the reduction of blood lipids, preventing weight gain and loss of extra weight.

Keywords: BMI; BMI Z-score; Iran; children; dyslipidemia.