Risks of Hyperlipidemia, Hypertension, High Blood Glucose and Liver Dysfunction in Moderately and Severely Obese Children

This study was conducted to compare the rates of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, high blood glucose, and liver dysfunction, between 64 obese children (24 boys and 11 girls who were moderately obese, and 21 boys and 8 girls who were severely obese) and 45 normal weight children (31 boys and 14 girls) from 13 elementary schools in Kangnung city. Among the boys with severe obesity, the levels of serum triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol (133.60 $\pm$ 49.99 mg/dl and 105.00 $\pm$ 41.12 mg/dl( respectively) were significantly higher compared to the normal Weight group (81.16 $\pm$ 23.59 mg/dl and 87.74 $\pm$ 32.095 mg/dl, respectively) of moderately obese group (102.30 $\pm$ 36.03 mg/dl, 89.99 $\pm$ 32.10 mg/이, respectively). In girls, only serum triglycerides were significantly higher in the severely obese group (154.30 $\pm$ 46.84 mg/dl), compared with the normal weight group (80.00 $\pm$ 25.31 mg/dl) or moderately obese group (106.40 $\pm$ 41.73 mg/dl). In boys, blood pressure in the severely obese group (systolic: 120.5 $\pm$ 9.74 mmHg; diastolic: 80.95 $\pm$ 10.44 mmHg) was significantly higher compared with the groups of normal weight or moderately obese children. The rate of hypertriglyceridemia was significantly different among normal weight, moderately obese, and severely obese boys (9.7%, 41.7%, and 76.2%, respectively). The proportion of boys who had an Atherogenic Index(AI) higher than 3 was found to be significantly higher in the severely obese group (28.6%), compared to 6.5% in the normal weight group and 4.1% in the moderately obese group. Among boys, a significantly higher rate of hypertension was found in the severely obese group, which showed high systolic blood pressure and high diastolic pressure (81.0% and 81.0%), compared with the normal weight group (16.1% and 22.6%) and moderately obese group (33.3% and 33.3%). In conclusion, the diagnosis and management of obese children needs to be tailored to gender and the degree of obesity. Furthermore, a systematic management program needs to be developed for early screening and detection of obesity in order to minimize the risk of hyperlipidemia and hypertension, especially in severely obese children.