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. 2022 Jun 6;12(6):e052326.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052326.

Is grip strength linked to body composition and cardiovascular risk markers in primary schoolchildren? Cross-sectional data from three African countries

Markus Gerber  1   2 , Serge Ayekoé  3 , Bassirou Bonfoh  4 , Jean T Coulibaly  4   5 , Dao Daouda  4   5 , Bomey Clément Gba  4   5 , Benal Kouassi  4   6 , Sylvain G Traoré  4   7 , Rosa du Randt  8 , Siphesihle Nqweniso  8 , Cheryl Walter  8 , Marceline F Finda  9 , Elihaika G Minja  9 , Getrud J Mollel  9 , Honorati Masanja  9 , Fredros O Okumu  9 , Johanna Beckmann  10   2 , Stefanie Gall  10   2 , Christin Lang  10   2 , Kurt Z Long  10   11 , Ivan Müller  10   2 , Nicole Probst-Hensch  10   11 , Uwe Pühse  10   2 , Peter Steinmann  10   11 , Juerg Utzinger  10   11
Affiliations

Is grip strength linked to body composition and cardiovascular risk markers in primary schoolchildren? Cross-sectional data from three African countries

Markus Gerber et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: Muscular strength represents a specific component of health-related fitness. Hand grip strength (HGS) is used as an indicator for musculoskeletal fitness in children. HGS can also be used as a marker of cardiometabolic risk, but most available HGS data are derived from Western high-income countries. Therefore, this study examines whether HGS is associated with body composition and markers of cardiovascular risk in children from three sub-Saharan African countries.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Public primary schools (grade 1-4) in Taabo (Côte d'Ivoire), Gqeberha (South Africa) and Ifakara (Tanzania).

Participants: Data from 467 children from Côte d'Ivoire (210 boys, 257 girls), 864 children from South Africa (429 boys, 435 girls) and 695 children from Tanzania (334 boys, 361 girls) were analysed.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: Body composition (assessed via bioelectrical impedance analysis) was the primary outcome. Cardiovascular risk markers were considered as secondary outcome. Blood pressure was measured with an oscillometric monitor, and blood markers (cholesterol, triglycerides, glycated haemoglobin) via Afinion point-of-care testing. HGS (independent variable) was assessed with a hydraulic hand dynamometer. Inferential statistics are based on mixed linear regressions and analyses of covariance.

Results: Across all study sites, higher HGS was associated with lower body fat, higher muscle mass and higher fat-free mass (p<0.001, 3.9%-10.0% explained variance), both in boys and girls. No consistent association was found between HGS and cardiovascular risk markers.

Conclusions: HGS assessment is popular due to its simplicity, feasibility, practical utility and high reliability of measurements. This is one of the first HGS studies with children from sub-Saharan Africa. There is a great need for further studies to examine whether our findings can be replicated, to develop reference values for African children, to establish links to other health outcomes, and to explore whether HGS is associated with later development of cardiovascular risk markers.

Trial registration number: ISRCTN29534081.

Keywords: community child health; public health; sports medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Differences in muscle mass between HGS quartiles, separately for girls and boys and for each study site. HGS, hand grip strength.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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