IMPE Abstracts

Background: Domestic and international epidemiological studies have reported that childhood obesity and serum lipids were associated with lifestyle-related diseases in adulthood. There are few long-term epidemiological studies on the relationship between serum lipids and obese in Japanese children.

Purpose: Based on the data Oita City schoolchildren lifestyle-related disease screening program (height, weight, serum total cholesterol [TC] level, serum triglyceride [TG] level, serum HDL cholesterol [HDL-C] level, serum non-HDL cholesterol [non-HDL-C]), we aimed to clarify the age-related changes in the percentage of obese children at the age of 10 years. We also evaluated the proportion of non-obese and obese children with dyslipidemia, and the characteristics of lipid abnormalities among them.

Methods: The percentage of overweight (POW) has been widely applied to determine the degree of obesity in Japan. POW was assessed for each 10-year-old child in Oita City every year from 1991 to 2017, and chronological trends of POW in non-obese children and obese children (mild, moderate, and severe types) were separately evaluated. We also investigated the annual changes in the proportion of children with hyper-TC, hyper-TG, lower-HDL-C, and hyper-non-HDL-C levels, and evaluated the characteristics of lipid abnormalities in non-obese and obese children.

Results: Approximately 80-90% of 10-year-old children in Oita City applied for a checkup in school children lifestyle-related disease screening program every year. A total of 58,699 boys and 56,864 girls were studied during the 27-year observation period. The percentage of obese children had been about 10%; an increase of the percentage with severe obesity was apparently observed. Hyper-TC was observed in 5% of non-obese children whereas in 10% of obese children. Hyper-TG with hyper-non-HDL-C were observed in 5% of non-obese children and in 25% of obese children, respectively. Lower-HDL-C was found in 1% of non-obese children and in 5% of obese children, respectively. About 10% of non-obese children had lipid abnormalities, while 35% of obese children had any of lipid abnormalities, and children with lipid abnormalities increased in proportion to the degree of obesity. The obese children had a high rate of multiple lipid abnormalities including hyper-TG.

Discussion: The percentages of obese children with dyslipidemia had been significantly higher than those of non-obese children, and the percentages of multiple dyslipidemia with hyper-TG were particularly high. Hence, obese children, especially those with severe obesity, need much extensive interventions including dietary and exercise instruction.