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. 2024 Nov 14;16(22):3884.
doi: 10.3390/nu16223884.

Association Between Lifestyle Patterns and Abdominal Obesity with Biochemical and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Adolescents with Down Syndrome: The UP&DOWN Study

Ana Gutierrez-Hervas  1   2 , Esther Nova  2 , Rocío Izquierdo-Gómez  3   4 , Óscar L Veiga  5 , Carmen Padilla  3   4 , José Castro-Piñero  3   4 , Ascensión Marcos  2 , Sonia Gómez-Martínez  2
Affiliations

Association Between Lifestyle Patterns and Abdominal Obesity with Biochemical and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Adolescents with Down Syndrome: The UP&DOWN Study

Ana Gutierrez-Hervas et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background/objectives: The main objective of this study was to examine the association between lifestyle patterns (physical activity, screen and sleep time and diet) and abdominal obesity, and endocrine, metabolic, and immunological biomarkers in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS).

Methods: Eighty-three DS adolescents (38.6% girls), aged 11 to 18 years, from the UP&DOWN study were included. Cluster analysis was performed by including the compliance of recommendations of lifestyle variables, such as moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), screen and sleep time and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (AMD). The waist-to-height ratio was used as an indicator of abdominal obesity. Haematological, biochemical and inflammatory biomarkers were analysed.

Results: A three-cluster solution was identified: Cluster 1: adolescents with low compliance; Cluster 2: youth with medium compliance; and Cluster 3: adolescents with high compliance. Significant differences in MVPA (p = 0.000), screen time (p = 0.004), sleep time (p = 0.0001), AMD (p = 0.000) and abdominal obesity (p = 0.003) were found. Clusters 2 and 3 had lower levels of triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol than Cluster 1. Cluster 2, in which all adolescents met the MVPA recommendations, had the lowest levels of galactin 3.

Conclusions: Compliance with lifestyle recommendations (PA, screen and sleep time and AMD) and the absence of abdominal obesity seem to be associated with better biochemical and inflammatory values.

Keywords: Down syndrome; adolescents; inflammatory biomarkers; lifestyle patterns.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of DS adolescents who comply with lifestyle recommendations in each of the clusters. Abbreviations: MVPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; AMD, adherence to Mediterranean diet.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of adolescents with compliance in lifestyle recommendations by clusters. Abbreviations: MVPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; AMD, adherence to Mediterranean diet.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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