Lipid Profile in Overweight Children and Adolescents

Objective: to assess the lipid profile and associated factors in obese or overweight children and adolescents. Methods: cross-sectional study developed from April to November 2009 including 217 overweight children and adolescents aged from two to 18 years from the public health system of Campina Grande-PB. Nutritional status was classified according to percentile as: overweight (85 < BMI < 95), obesity (95 < BMI < 97) and severe obesity (BMI < 97). The following values were considered abnormal: LDL-c < 130 mg/dL, HDL-c < 45 mg/dL and TG 130 mg/dL. Statistical analysis included analysis of variance and chi-square tests adopting a confidence interval of 95%. The SPSS 17.0 program was used. Results: most children and adolescents showed severe obesity (68.2%), which was associated to sex (PR = 3.7) and to age group from two to nine years (PR = 3.2). Dyslipidemia was observed in 85.3% of the study population, which was prevalent (88.9%) in children from two to five years of age. Low HDL-c was the most frequent alteration (80.6%), and the value was significantly lower among those with severe obesity (p < 0.005). Conclusions: The high prevalence of dyslipidemia observed since the preschool age reinforces the need to control the lipid profile in the presence of obesity or overweight, regardless of age.