title: Relationship between Abdominal Aortic Intima Media Thickness and Central Obesity in Children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Childhood obesity is one of the important risk factors for early atherosclerosis. We aimed to evaluate the effect of obesity on abdominal aortic intima media thickness (aaIMT) in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We consecutively recruited 60 obese and 28 healthy children from the outpatient clinic of pediatrics. In all patients, BMI, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were measured, and fasting serum lipid profile, plasma glucose and plasma insulin were studied. Homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated for the obese group. All children underwent ultrasonography to evaluate hepatosteatosis and to measure aaIMT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of aaIMT, insulin, glucose, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride and hepatosteatosis. aaIMT was 1.12 ± 0.25 and 0.61 ± 0.18 mm in the obese and nonobese groups, respectively (p < 0.001). In the obese group, there was a positive correlation between aaIMT and WC, WC/height ratio, BMI, HC and hepatosteatosis (p < 0.05 for all), with the highest significance for WC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that aaIMT was significantly higher in obese children than in nonobese children, and that WC was a strong predictor for aaIMT. Early detection of an increased aaIMT in obese children may guide the follow-up of these patients in terms of developing atherosclerosis and its complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, x00C7;anakkale Onsekiz Mart University, x00C7;anakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aylanç
authors.forename: Nilüfer
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aylanç
authors.forename: Şule
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Yıldırım
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tekin
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Battal
authors.forename: Nazan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaymaz
authors.forename: Fatih Köksal
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Binnetoğlu
authors.forename: Naci
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Topaloğlu
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Türkön
authors.forename: Fehime Erdem
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Sürecek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D008055:Lipids