Body mass index and adiposity of Egyptian infants and preschools

Body mass index [BMI] is widely used to assess childhood obesity, and to infer risk of subsequent obesity-related disease. The present study aims to examine:1] age-and gender-reared patterns in BMI and the body fat component throughout infancy and preschool childhood periods 2] correlations between BMI and total body fat mass and fat percentage 3] hypothesis that BMI is valid gender-specific measure of fatness that is dependant/or independent on age in a pediatric population. It was a cross-sectional study of 410 healthy, Egyptian infants and 512 preschool children of both genders, aged from 1 month to 5 years. Anthropometric assessment; body weigh and length/ height; was performed. Body mass index [BMI] [[Weigh in kg/Height in m2]] was calculated. Each child was examined by the bioelectrical impedance apparatus [BMI]] to measure the total body fat mass body fat percentage. Results show progressive increase in BMI, total body fat mass and body fat percentage with age in both boys and girls. BMI is more strongly associated with total body fat mass than with body fat percentage for both genders. The association between BMI and total body fat mass in both genders found to be dependent on the age across the first two years of life, then become consistent across age range 3-5 years. While, the association between BMI and body fat percentage is weaker in infancy than preschools and independent on the age for both sexes. The study concludes that, BMI appears to serve a surrogate marker for total body fat mass of preschool children and with considering the exact age during infancy period. The study recommends that Egyptian gender-and age- specific BMI cutoffs for defining children's overweight and obesity are needed

Percentiles of blood pressure of Egyptian children and adolescents [3-17 years]

Blood pressure [BP] percentiles for Egyptian children and adolescents provide representative Egyptian BP levels and their use may be essential. The present study aimed to determine and describe levels of systolic blood pressure [SBP] and diastolic blood pressure [DBP] across age and gender of 22,072 healthy children and adolescents to drive reference percentiles for BP of Egyptian children and adolescents. It also aimed to assess the association between age, sex, height and BMI with BP in healthy Egyptian children and adolescents. The study is a cross-sectional one, including 22,072 healthy Egyptian children and adolescents [10997 boys and 11075 girls] at age range of 3 to 17 years from nurseries and private schools in Cairo and Giza Governorates. A questionnaire was designed including: Full medical and family history and full clinical examination and Height, weight and BP measurements for all subjects. The study results revealed that both systolic BPand Diastolic BP were significantly higher in Egyptian children compared to other ethnic groups and that BP is influenced by gender, age and height and body mass index [BMI]. The study recommends development of national strategy to reduce overweight and obesity during childhood

Blood pressure and body composition among Egyptian primary school children [6-11 years]

Many research spot on blood pressure levels during childhood to identify whom truly have high blood pressure reading or at high risk for the development of essential hypertension later in life. It is well known that body size and body composition are the most important risk factors and play a major role in blood pressure level determination. The aim of the present paper was to study the relationship between blood pressure with some anthropometric measurements and body composition [body fat percentage, fat free mass percentage, water percentage] among a sample of Egyptian primary school children of both sexes in Giza Governorate. This is a cross sectional study of 770 Egyptian children 524 boys and 225 girls, aged 6-11 years. Blood pressure [systolic and diastolic], weight, height, skin fold thickness [Triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac] beside waist and hip circumference were measured. Body Mass Index [BMI], waist/hip ratio and sum of skin-fold thickness were calculated. Body composition was determined using bioelectrical impedance. The Egyptian systolic blood pressure were [90.61 - 115.91 mmHg] and the Diastolic Blood pressure [60.2 - 73.51 mmHg]. Blood pressure was age dependant and significantly correlated with weight, height, BMI and sum of skin fold thickness for both sexes. Moreover blood pressure showed highly positive significant correlation with body fat percentage while it was negatively and significantly correlated with fat free mass and Total body water/weight [TB W/Wt] for both sexes. Egyptian children have higher blood pressure levels than other populations. BMI, as well as body fat% were positively correlated with blood pressure. However, Fat Free mass and total body water/weight were negatively correlated with blood pressure. Recommendation: Blood pressure should be measured during childhood period for early exploration of diseased children. Assessment of body composition can be a useful tool for understanding the situation of children at risk of developing hypertension