Cardio-respiratory fitness is a strong predictor for clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors in children and youth independent of country, age and sex. The European Youth Heart Study
Involverte ansatte ProsjektstatusSubmitted to Eur Heart J
BeskrivelseLow cardio-respiratory fitness is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, few studies have investigated the association between objectively determined cardio-respiratory fitness and clustered CVD risk in children and youth.
Cross sectional data collected in 1999-2000. Participants were 2845 randomly selected school children aged 9- or 15-years from Portugal (n=944), Denmark (n=849), and Estonia (n=1052), with response rates of 73%, 75%, and 76%, respectively. Risk of clustering of the following CVD risk factors; total cholesterol / high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, plasma triglycerides, insulin resistance (HOMA), sum of four skin folds, and systolic blood pressure.
Results: There was a strong association between cardio-respiratory fitness and clustering of CVD risk factors. The odds ratios for clustering in the different quartiles of fitness, using the quartile with highest fitness as reference, were 13.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.8-19.1); 4.8 (95% CI, 3.2-7.1); and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.6-3.8), respectively after adjustment for country, age, sex, socioeconomic status, pubertal stage, family history of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In stratified analyses by age group, sex and country, similar and strong patterns were observed; being unfit conferred higher risk of clustering.
Conclusion: Low cardio-respiratory fitness is strongly associated with clustering of CVD risk factors in children independent of country, age and sex.