title: Prepubertal children exposed to concentrated disadvantage: An exploratory analysis of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction.
abstract: It is unclear whether physiologic and metabolic biomarkers are associated with chronic stressors evidenced during early childhood.
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional data were obtained from a cohort of healthy, prepubertal (Tanner stage < 2) children (n = 96; age: 8.06 [7.8] years; M = 51 [53%]; F = 45 [47%]; African-American = 26 [27%]; Caucasian = 70 [73%]; with obesity = 21 [22%]; without obesity = 75 [78%]) from the MET study. Body mass index z-score (z_BMI), total body fat (BF), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), intrahepatic and intramyocellular lipids, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were measured. Chronic stress was assessed using neighborhood concentrated disadvantage index (CDI) for the U.S. Census tracts in which participants resided. Spearman's rank correlations were used to examine relationships, accounting for sex and race.
  
  
  
  CDI was not positively associated with inflammatory and metabolic markers of dysfunction. However, z_BMI (-0.234, P = 0.023), BF (-0.228, P = 0.028, n = 95), and VAT (-0.241, P = 0.042, n = 74) were significantly negatively associated with CDI. When stratifying by race, these relationships remained significant in Caucasian children only.
  
  
  
  These findings suggest chronic stress during early childhood is not associated with inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers, typically observed in adults. Therefore, exposure to stress during this critical developmental period may remain latent and emerge during a later developmental stage.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences Department, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kepper
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences Department, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.|School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.|Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sothern
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences Department, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.|School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.|Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Jovanny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zabaleta
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ravussin
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Cruz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Velasco-Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences Department, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.|Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Estrada
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scribner
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat; D008055:Lipids; D008297:Male; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism; D011627:Puberty; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids