Association of obesity with chronic disease and musculoskeletal factors

overweight and obesity in adolescents are major public health problems with particular interest, because of their potential association with risk factors for development of diseases. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescents in southern Portugal and investigate the association with risk factors for development of cardiovascular, respiratory and musculoskeletal diseases.

Methods:

the sample consisted of 966 adolescents aged 10 to 16 years. The calculation of body mass index (BMI), evaluation of blood glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides, blood pressure, spirometry and application of low back pain (LBP) questionnaire were performed.

Results:

178 (18.4%) adolescents were overweight and 52 (5.4%) obese. None of the variables revealed a statistically significant association with overweight and obesity. The presence of high blood pressure was observed in 200 (20.7%) individuals and hypertension in 158 (16.4%) adolescents. Overweight and obese adolescents are 2.3 times more likely to develop signs of pre-hypertension and hypertension. 559 (57.9%) students had restrictive respiratory disorders and 23 (2.4%) had obstructive disorders. Those who were overweight and obese had 0.64 probability of having restrictive respiratory disorders.

Conclusion:

there was a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Portuguese adolescents and these showed a statistically significant relationship with the development of pre-hypertension and hypertension, and restrictive respiratory disorders.

Keywords:
obesity; hypertension; dyslipidemias; hyperglycemia; low back pain; adolescent

Variables		Thinness (28, 2.9%)	Adequate (708, 73.3%)	Overweight (178, 18.4%)	Obesity (52, 5.4%)	p-value
Gender	Male (437, 45.2%)	7 (1.6%)	340 (77.8%)	73 (16.7%)	17 (3.9%)	0.01
Gender	Female (529, 54.8%)	21 (4%)	368 (69.6%)	105 (19.8%)	35 (6.6%)
Age group	10-12 years (574, 59.4%)	20 (3.5%)	391 (68.1%)	122 (21.3%)	41 (7.1%)	<0.01
Age group	13-16 years (392, 40.6%)	8 (2%)	317 (80.9%)	56 (14.3%)	11 (2.8%)
Ethnicity	Caucasians (894, 92.5%)	24 (2.7%)	654 (73.2%)	167 (18.7%)	49 (5.5%)	0.223
	Black (68, 7%)	3 (4.4%)	53 (77.9%)	9 (13.2%)	3 (4.4%)
	Asian origin (4, 0.4%)	1 (25%)	1 (25%)	2 (50%)	0
Glycemia	Hypoglycemia (647, 67%)	20 (3.1%)	480 (74.2%)	113 (17.5%)	34 (5.3%)	0.428
	Adequate (315, 32.8%)	8 (2.5%)	224 (71.1%)	65 (20.6%)	(18, 5.7%)
	Hyperglycemia (2, 0.2%)	0	2 (100%)	0	0
Total cholesterol	Adequate (877, 94.4%)	22 (2.5%)	648 (73.9)	160 (18.2%)	47 (5.4%)	0.137
	Threshold high risk (45, 4.8%)	3 (6.7%)	26 (57.8%)	12 (26.7%)	4 (8.9%)
	High (7, 0.8%)	1 (14.3%)	5 (71.4%)	1 (14.3%)	0
Triglycerides	Adequate (414, 95.9%)	4 (1%)	304 (73.4%)	82 (19.8%)	24 (5.8%)	0.836
	Threshold high risk (12, 2.7%)	0	7 (58.3%)	5 (41.7%)	0
	High (6, 1.4%)	0	6 (100%)	0	0
Blood pressure	Hypotension (87, 9%)	3 (3.4%)	72 (82.8%)	11 (12.6%)	1 (1.1%)	0.001
	Adequate (521, 53.9%)	21 (4%)	401 (77%)	81 (15.5%)	18 (3.5%)
	Pre-hypertension (200, 20.7%)	1 (0.5%)	142 (71%)	44 (22%)	13 (6.5%)
	Hypertension (158, 16.4%)	3 (1.9%)	93 (58.9%)	42 (26.6%)	20 (12.7%)
Spirometry	Adequate (384, 39.8%)	2 (0.5%)	273 (71.1%)	83 (21.6%)	26 (6.8%)	0.018
	Restrictive (559, 57.9%)	2 (8.7%)	422 (75.5%)	89 (15.9%)	24 (4.3%)
	Obstructive (23, 2.4%)	2 (8.7%)	13 (56.5%)	6 (26.1%)	2 (8.7%)
Time watching TV (per week)	Up to 5 hours (446, 46.2%)	12 (2.7%)	315 (70.6%)	88 (19.7%)	31 (7%)	0.809
	Between 6 to 10 hours (303, 31.4%)	9 (3%)	236 (77.9%)	49 (16.2%)	9 (3%)
	Between 11 to 15 hours (127, 13.1%)	4 (3.1%)	91 (71.7%)	22 (17.3%)	10 (7.9%)
	More than 15 hours (90, 9.3%)	3 (3.3%)	66 (73.3%)	19 (21.1%)	2 (2.2%)
Time playing games/ computer (per week)	Up to 5 hours (649, 67.2%)	21 (3.2%)	465 (71.6%)	122 (18.8%)	41 (6.3%)	0.342
	Between 6 to 10 hours (184, 19%)	3 (1.6%)	150 (81.5%)	26 (14.1%)	5 (2.7%)
	Between 11 to 15 hours (73, 7.6%)	3 (4.1%)	50 (68.5%)	15 (20.5%)	5 (6.8%)
	More than 15 hours (60, 6.2%)	1 (1.7%)	43 (71.7%)	15 (25%)	1 (1.7%)
Physical activity (outside of school)	Yes (627, 64.9%)	17 (2.7%)	468 (74.6%)	112 (17.9%)	30 (4.8%)	0.249
Physical activity (outside of school)	No (339, 35.1%)	11 (3.2%)	240 (70.8%)	66 (19.5%)	22 (6.5%)
Low back pain	Absence (510, 52.8%)	16 (3.1%)	376 (73.7%)	94 (18.4%)	24 (4.7%)	0.604
Low back pain	Presence (456, 47.2%)	12 (2.6%)	332 (72.8%)	84 (18.4%)	28 (6.1%)

Variables	Odds ratio crude (95%CI); p	Odds ratio adj^ adjusted to sex and age (95%CI); p
Systemic blood pressure (hypotension and appropriate^* * class reference; ) Pre-hypertension and hypertension	2.23 (1.65-3.01); p<0.001	2.34 (1.72-3.18); p<0,001
Spirometry (adequate^* * class reference; ) Obstructive respiratory disorder Restrictive respiratory disorder	1.35 (0.56-3.26); p=0.512 0.64 (0.47-0.87); p<0.001	1.19 (0.48-2.96); p=0.706 0.67 (0.47-0.87); p=0.005
Age group (13-16 years^* * class reference; ) 10-12 years	1.92 (1.39-2.65); p<0.001	--------
Gender (Male^* * class reference; ) Female	1.39 (1.03-1.88); p>0.033	--------

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