ABSTRACT
Objective@#To identify the association of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and visceral fat area (VFA) to inform prevention of cardiovascular disease in later life.@*Methods@#All the grade one students of six non-boarding primary schools in Shunyi District, Beijing were enrolled, based on population-based survey design, to establish the child cohort on sensitization, puberty, obesity and cardiovascular risk (PROC). Socio-demographic information survey and anthropometric measure, blood and urine test were carried out. Robust linear regression was used to determine the relationship between cIMT and other factors.@*Results@#Among 1 711 participants, a significant difference were observed between normal, overweight and obesity children on cIMT [(0.35±0.02)(0.36±0.02)(0.37±0.03)mm] (F=41.4, P<0.01) and VFA [16.2(13.6-19.3), 22.7(18.6-27.3), 51.5(33.9-73.0)cm2] (χ2=854.5, P<0.01). After adjusting age and sex, univariate robust linear regression showed that cIMT was associated with height, SBP, DBP, HDL-C, VFA (P<0.05) and TG (P=0.055). Multivariable robust linear regression indicated that in total and boys only included models, cIMT was associated with VFA and SBP(β=0.000 2, 0.000 2, 0.000 2, 0.000 2, P<0.05); while in girls only included model cIMT was associated with VFA and TG (β=0.000 2, 0.006 2, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#VFA is stable to predict the increase of cIMT in children. We can use VFA to simplify the classification management of children and inform targeted early prevention of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.