Prepubertal Children With Metabolically Healthy Obesity or Overweight Are More Active Than Their Metabolically Unhealthy Peers Irrespective of Weight Status: GENOBOX Study

Francisco Jesús Llorente-Cantarero; Rosaura Leis; Azahara I Rupérez; Augusto Anguita-Ruiz; Rocío Vázquez-Cobela; Katherine Flores-Rojas; Esther M González-Gil; Concepción M Aguilera; Luis A Moreno; Mercedes Gil-Campos; Gloria Bueno

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.821548

Prepubertal Children With Metabolically Healthy Obesity or Overweight Are More Active Than Their Metabolically Unhealthy Peers Irrespective of Weight Status: GENOBOX Study

Front Nutr. 2022 Apr 12:9:821548. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.821548. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Francisco Jesús Llorente-Cantarero^{1

2}, Rosaura Leis^{2

3

4}, Azahara I Rupérez⁵, Augusto Anguita-Ruiz^{2

6

7}, Rocío Vázquez-Cobela^{2

3}, Katherine Flores-Rojas⁸, Esther M González-Gil^{2

5

6

7}, Concepción M Aguilera^{2

6

7}, Luis A Moreno^{2

5}, Mercedes Gil-Campos^{2

8}, Gloria Bueno^{2

5

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Specific Didactics, Faculty of Education, Institute of Biomedicine Research of Córdoba (IMIBIC), University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
² Center of Biomedical Research on Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
³ Unit of Investigation in Nutrition, Growth and Human Development of Galicia, Department of Pediatrics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
⁴ Unit of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago (IDIS), University Clinical Hospital of Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
⁵ Grupo de Nutrición, Alimentación, Crecimiento y Desarrollo (GENUD) Research Group, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (IIS Aragón), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Center of Biomedical Research, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology "José Mataix", University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
⁷ Instituto de Investigación Biosanitariaibs, Granada, Spain.
⁸ Metabolism and Investigation Unit, Maimónides Institute of Biomedicine Research of Córdoba (IMIBIC), Reina Sofia University Hospital, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
⁹ Unidad de Endocrinología Pediátrica, Hospital Clínico Lozano Blesa, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.

Abstract

Background and aim: The association of a metabolically healthy status with the practice of physical activity (PA) remains unclear. Sedentarism and low PA have been linked to increased cardiometabolic risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the PA levels in metabolically healthy (MH) or unhealthy (MU) prepubertal children with or without overweight/obesity.

Methods: A total 275 children (144 boys) with 9 ± 2 years old were selected for the GENOBOX study. PA times and intensities were evaluated by accelerometry, and anthropometry, blood pressure, and blood biochemical markers were analyzed. Children were considered to have normal weight or obesity, and further classified as MH or MU upon fulfillment of the considered metabolic criteria.

Results: Classification resulted in 119 MH children (21% with overweight/obesity, referred to as MHO) and 156 MU children (47% with overweight/obesity, referred to as MUO). Regarding metabolic profile, MHO showed lower blood pressure levels, both systolic and diastolic and biochemical markers levels, such as glucose, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, triglycerides and higher HDL-c levels than MUO (P < 0.001). In addition, MHO children spent more time in PA of moderate intensity compared with MUO children. In relation to vigorous PA, MH normal weight (MHN) children showed higher levels than MUO children. Considering sex, boys spent more time engaged in moderate, vigorous, and moderate-vigorous (MV) PA than girls, and the number of boys in the MH group was also higher.

Conclusion: Prepubertal MHO children are less sedentary, more active, and have better metabolic profiles than their MUO peers. However, all children, especially girls, should increase their PA engagement, both in terms of time and intensity because PA appears to be beneficial for metabolic health status itself.

Keywords: body composition; body mass index; childhood; health; metabolic syndrome; metabolism; physical activity.