title: Reduced cardiac vagal activity in obese children and adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obese children present with various cardiovascular risk factors affecting their future health. In adults, cardiac autonomic function is a major risk factor, predicting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We hypothesized that obese children and adolescents had a lower cardiac vagal activity than lean subjects. We measured cardiac spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), reflecting the dynamic regulation of cardiac vagal function, in large groups of obese and lean young individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cardiac BRS, using the sequence approach, was assessed in 120 obese (59 girls), 43 overweight (23 girls) and 148 lean subjects (78 girls). Obese subjects showed a decreased BRS compared to both overweight and lean subjects [16±7 versus 21±9 (P<0·01) and 22±10 ms per mmHg (P<0·0001), respectively]. The differences remained after correcting for age, gender and pubertal status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with obesity had low vagal activity at rest, and there was no gender difference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Clinical Physiology Department of Paediatrics, Sahlgrenska Academy and University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden. frida.dangardt@gu.se
authors.forename: Frida
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dangardt
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Volkmann
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Osika
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mårild
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Friberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017704:Baroreflex; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013548:Sweden; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology*