Body fat, cardiovascular risk factors and brain structure in school-age children

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 45; no. 11; pp. 2425 - 2431
• Main Authors: Silva, Carolina C. V., Jaddoe, Vincent W. V., Muetzel, Ryan L., Santos, Susana, El Marroun, Hanan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.11.2021; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 59/57; 692/308/174; 692/499; 692/700/1720; Adipose Tissue - abnormalities; Adipose Tissue - physiopathology; Adipose tissues; Adolescent; Age composition; Anisotropy; Blood pressure; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Body size; Brain; Brain - abnormalities; Brain - physiopathology; Cardiovascular diseases; Child; Children; Complications and side effects; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diffusivity; Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; Epidemiology; Female; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Health risks; Heart Disease Risk Factors; Humans; Insulin; Internal Medicine; Lipids; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Medical imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Microstructure; Netherlands - epidemiology; Neuroimaging; Obesity in children; Pediatric research; Population studies; Public Health; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Substantia alba; Substantia grisea; Underweight; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/s41366-021-00913-3

Background In adults, cardiovascular risk factors are known to be associated with brain health. We hypothesized that these associations are already present at school-age. We examined the associations of adverse body fat measures and cardiovascular risk factors with brain structure, including volumetric measures and white matter microstructure, in 10-year-old children. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis in a population-based prospective cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Analyses were based on 3098 children aged 10 years with neuroimaging data and at least one measurement of body fat and cardiovascular risk factors. Body fat measures included body mass index (BMI), fat mass index and android fat mass percentage obtained by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Cardiovascular risk factors included blood pressure, and serum glucose, insulin and lipids blood concentrations. Structural neuroimaging, including global and regional brain volumes, was quantified by magnetic resonance imaging. DTI was used to assess white matter microstructure, including global fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Results As compared to children with a normal weight, those with underweight had a smaller total brain and white matter volumes (differences −18.10 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) −30.97,−5.22) cm 3 , −10.64 (95% CI −16.82,−4.47) cm 3 , respectively). In contrast, one SDS (Standard Deviation Score) increase in fat mass index was associated with a smaller gray matter volume (differences −3.48 (95% CI −16.82, −4.47) cm 3 ). Also, one SDS increase in android fat mass percentage was associated with lower white matter diffusivity (difference −0.06 (95% CI −0.10, −0.02) SDS). None of the other cardiovascular risk factors were associated with any of the brain outcomes. Conclusions Body fat measures, but not other cardiovascular risk factors, were associated with structural neuroimaging outcomes in school-aged children. Prospective studies are needed to assess causality, direction and long-term consequences of the associations.