Relation of Adiposity Rebound age to Serum Small Dense Low-density Lipoprotein in Young Childhood

The number of patients with childhood obesity is increasing worldwide. The age of adiposity rebound (AR), the age when body mass starts to rise after transient decrease after birth, is thought to have a predictive value of obesity in adulthood. In order to elucidate whether the early gain of weight is related to the future occurrence of metabolic syndrome, the author examined the relationship between the time of AR and the prevalence of children having atherogenic small dense LDL (SDLDL) in serum at 12 years of age in Fujioka town in Japan. A total of 215 children (114 boys and 101 girls) who were born between 1995 and 1996 have been enrolled in this study as a prospective cohort. Annual measurements of body-mass index (BMI) from 4 months to 12 years were carried out. We defined the age of AR as the age when the lowest BMI occurred during this period. At 12 years of age, serum concentrations of lipids including of SDLDL and lipoproteins were measured. As results children who exhibited an earlier AR had the higher BMI value at 12 years of age (p<0.01) in both sexes. The prevalence of SDLDL decreased progressively from 15.0% in children in whom AR occurred before the age of 4 years to 0% in those in whom AR occurred after 6 years. Furthermore, the earlier AR was associated with elevated triglyceride (p<0.05) and apolipoprotein B (p<0.01) levels and decreased HDL-cholesterol levels (p