Introduction and objectives: The aim was to investigate etiologic and cardiovascular risk factors in obese children from Extremadura, Spain, and their relationship with insulin resistance and plasma adipocytokine levels.
Methods: The study included 373 children (age, 3-13 years) who were randomly selected from schools in the city and province of Badajoz and from two health centers in the Spanish autonomous community of Extremadura.
Results: Some 9.5% of children were obese. Compared with normal weight children, obese children exhibited a greater weight gain in the first year of life (7.3+/-1.5 kg vs. 6.3+/-0.8 kg), were less physically active (9.6+/-7.2 h/week vs. 13.1+/-8.1 h/week), and had more screen time (18.0+/-12.4 h/week vs. 12.8+/-8.2 h/week), a lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (46.0+/-11.4 mg/dL vs. 64.6+/-22.9 mg/dL), higher arterial systolic pressure (102.3+/-8.5 mmHg vs. 89.9+/-13.4 mmHg), increased insulin resistance (6.2+/-3.6 vs. 4.6+/-4.5), a higher level of leptinemia (24.8+/-13.8 ng/mL vs. 12.9+/-10.8 ng/mL) and a lower level of adiponectinemia (8.4+/-5.7 microg/mL vs. 15.6+/-7.9 microg/mL).
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that there is a relationship between a sedentary lifestyle and the development of insulin resistance and altered adipocytokines levels in obese children, and that these changes are related to a number of cardiovascular risk factors.