High fat intake may increase CVD risk in obese youths

High intakes of fat, particularly saturated fatty acid (SFA), independently correlates with triglycerides (TG) to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio, a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) development, of obese children and adolescents, suggests a recent study.

In total, 180 nondiabetic obese children and adolescents (age range, 6–16 years) participated and had their diet (3-day weighed dietary record), physical and biochemical parameters, and liver ultrasonography measured in this study.

The investigators then assessed the effect of lipid intake on TG/HDL-cholesterol ratio >2.2 using regression models, adjusted for covariates such as age, gender, height, weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease positivity, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, and total energy intake.

Children who consumed a diet with fat content >35 percent of total energy were significantly more likely to have a TG/HDL-cholesterol >2.2 than those on a diet with <35 percent of fat (odds ratio [OR], 3.333, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.11–9.979; p=0.031), independently from covariates.

If SFA intakes was >13 percent of total energy, children were also more likely to have a TG/HDL-cholesterol >2.2 than those consuming <13 percent of SFA in their diet (OR, 4.804, 95 percent CI, 1.312–17.593; p=0.018).

“Further intervention studies will contribute to clarify the potential role of changes in the composition and amount of fat in the diet of obese children and adolescents, on their cardiovascular risk factors,” the investigators said.