The Effect of Anthropometric Change on Blood Lipids in Adolescents in Rural Area of Korea

Cheon, Kyeong Soo; Kim, Myoung Hee; Kim, Kirang; Kim, Mi Kyung; Shin, Young Jeon; Choi, Bo Youl

Abstract

Primary prevention of atherosclerosis is important for reducing morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease. As modifiable risk factors for atherosclerosis which appears and progresses in early life, obesity and hyperlipidemia are related with each other. Especially hyperlipidemia during adolescent period is closely related to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in later life, but the association between anthropometric changes in growth period and lipids level in adolescence is not known yet. Therefore we investigated the effect of anthropometric changes in growth period on adolescent lipids level among 615 high school students in rural area of Korea. The study results were as the followings; In childhood, the weight and the height of boys didn't differ from those of girls, however, began to exceed them at 14 and 15 years old respectively. The body mass index(BMI) of both genders was appeared to increase with age. The BMI increase of girls was greater than that of boys from twelve years of age. The BMI slope (annual average increment of BMI; coefficient of regression line) of girls was greater than that of boys(t-test, p<0.01). The proportion of high obesity tracking group was 13.1%(82 persons). In multivariate analysis, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were positively correlated with obesity tracking in boys; BMI slope and BMI at 7 years old in girls. The HDL-cholesterol didn't show any significant association with those factors. The triglyceride was related to BMI slope and obesity tracking in boy, but nothing in girls. In this study, the obesity at 7 years old, the BMI slope, and the obesity tracking are associated with adolescent serum lipid level. For primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, it is needed to develop more active prevention or health promotion program for children and adolesecents in Korea.