The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma2 gene polymorphism (Pro12Ala) beneficially influences insulin resistance and its tracking from childhood to adulthood: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma2 gene polymorphism Pro12Ala has been associated with increased insulin sensitivity in some but not all studies. Little is known about its effect on the tracking of insulin resistance status over time. These aspects were examined in a community-based sample of 686 white young adults, aged 20-38 years, and 426 white children, aged 4-17 years, and a subsample of a cohort (n = 362) who participated both as children and adults, with an average follow-up period of 13.

Longitudinal changes in risk variables of insulin resistance syndrome from childhood to young adulthood in offspring of parents with type 2 diabetes: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

The occurrence of metabolic abnormalities related to insulin resistance syndrome in nondiabetic offspring of type 2 diabetic parents is known. However, information is lacking on the timing and the course of development of the components of this syndrome from childhood to adulthood in the offspring of parents with diabetes. This aspect was examined in a community-based cohort with (n = 303) and without (n = 1,136) a parental history of type 2 diabetes followed longitudinally since childhood (ages 4 to 17 years; mean follow-up period, 15 years) by repeated surveys.

Awareness of hypertension and dyslipidemia in a semirural population of young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: To assess the awareness of hypertension and dyslipidemia in a semirural population of young adults.

Methods: A cohort of 5,707 individuals was surveyed by a questionnaire. The awareness analysis was done on 1,454 subjects screened for cardiovascular risk factors 5 years earlier.

Time-course of adiposity and fasting insulin from childhood to young adulthood in offspring of parents with coronary artery disease: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Purpose: Obesity and the attendant insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia related to coronary artery disease (CAD) morbidity and mortality are well documented. However, information is lacking on the time-course relation of adiposity and fasting insulin from childhood to young adulthood in offspring of parents with CAD, a surrogate measure of future risk.

Methods: Longitudinal analysis was performed on data collected from the Bogalusa Heart Study cohort with (n = 271) and without (n = 805) a parental history of CAD followed since childhood by repeated surveys from 1973 to 1991.

Relation of self-rated measures of physical activity to multiple risk factors of insulin resistance syndrome in young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

The relation of self-rated measures of physical activity to multiple risk factors of insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) was examined in African American (n = 409) and white (n = 1,011) young adults aged 20 to 38 years enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study. Physical activity was assessed in terms of work activity, leisure-time activity, television watching, and video game playing by a questionnaire. Waist circumference, blood pressure, total to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and insulin resistance index showed a consistent inverse trend with leisure-time activity (P < 0.

Childhood blood pressure predicts adult microalbuminuria in African Americans, but not in whites: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: Microalbuminuria is considered as a strong predictor of cardiovascular diseases. However, limited information is available for childhood blood pressure (BP) levels and microalbuminuria in adulthood.

Methods: This study examined 2,122 individuals enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study as children, aged 5 to 17 years, and as adults, aged 20 to 37 years, with an average follow-up period of 16 years.

Childhood risk factors predict adult risk associated with subclinical cardiovascular disease. The Bogalusa Heart Study.

Cardiovascular risk factors begin in childhood and are predictive of cardiovascular risk in adulthood. Observations in the Bogalusa Heart Study have shown an important correlation of clinical risk factors in early life with anatomic changes in the aorta and coronary vessels with atherosclerosis and cardiac and renal changes related to hypertension. These observations have been extended by echo Doppler studies of carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT).

Impact of multiple coronary risk factors on the intima-media thickness of different segments of carotid artery in healthy young adults (The Bogalusa Heart Study).

Although risk factors for coronary artery disease are also associated with increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) as measured by B-mode ultrasonography in middle-aged and older persons, information on the impact of multiple risk factors on the IMT of different segments of the carotid artery in young adults is limited. This relation was examined in a sample of 518 black and white subjects (mean age 32 years; 71% white, 39% male) enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study. IMT was thicker and more skewed in the bulb compared with other carotid segments.

Relation of age at menarche to race, time period, and anthropometric dimensions: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Objective: To assess secular trends in menarcheal age between 1973 and 1994 and to determine whether childhood levels of height, weight, and skinfold thicknesses can account for racial (white/black) differences in menarcheal age.

Methods: Data from 7 cross-sectional examinations of school-aged children, with menarcheal age obtained through interviews, were used for both cross-sectional (11 218 observations) and longitudinal (n = 2058) analyses. In the latter analyses, the baseline examination was performed between ages 5.

Persistent hypercholesterolemia is associated with the development of obesity among girls: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: Obesity is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Cross-sectional data suggest that hypercholesterolemia is associated with the development of childhood obesity.

Objective: The objective was to assess age-related changes in relative weight and the association between relative weight and CVD risk factors in hypercholesterolemic and nonhypercholesterolemic children who were nonobese at baseline.

Distribution and correlates of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in children: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Objective: Serum non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (total cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol) is considered a better screening tool than low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol for the assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) risk in adults because it includes all classes of atherogenic lipoproteins. Although population frequency distribution and clinically useful cutpoints for this variable in adults have been reported recently, such information is lacking in children. Therefore, this study sought to provide population-based data on the distribution and correlates of non-HDL cholesterol in biracial (black-white) children.

Influence of the beta2-adrenergic receptor Arg16Gly polymorphism on longitudinal changes in obesity from childhood through young adulthood in a biracial cohort: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: The beta2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) plays a major role in regulating energy expenditure by stimulating lipid metabolism in human adipose tissue. Polymorphisms in the ADRB2 gene have been associated with obesity and various weight-related traits in cross-sectional studies of adults, but little is known about the effects of the ADRB2 gene on childhood obesity or the propensity to gain weight over time.

Objective: To assess the effects of a polymorphism in codon 16 (Arg16-->Gly) of the ADRB2 gene, which has been associated with a decrease in beta2-receptor density and efficiency, on longitudinal changes in obesity from childhood to young adulthood in a biracial cohort.

Consideration of serum cholesterol in risk factor profiling for all young individuals.

Aim: To alter the adverse natural course of coronary artery disease and its risk factors, primary prevention should begin in childhood.

Data Synthesis: High serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in particular, remains the major determinant of atherosclerotic process beginning in childhood. Selective cholesterol screening of children based on family history is inadequate.

Tracking of serum lipids and lipoproteins from childhood to dyslipidemia in adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Our data demonstrate that serum lipid and lipoprotein levels continue to track from childhood into young adulthood. The persistence and clustering of multiple CVD risk factors from childhood to adulthood and the impact of obesity in this regard point to the need for preventive measures aimed at developing healthy lifestyles early in life. Adverse levels of LDL-C in childhood persist over time, progress to adult dyslipidemias, and relate to obesity and hypertension as well.

Differences in the relation of obesity to serum triacylglycerol and VLDL subclass concentrations between black and white children: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: Obese children and adults, particularly those with abdominal obesity, have an elevated serum triacylglycerol concentration. Furthermore, triacylglycerol concentrations are generally higher in whites than in blacks, and the relation of obesity to triacylglycerol concentrations may be stronger in whites. However, there is little information on the relation of obesity to the metabolically distinct subclasses of VLDL in children.

Brachial artery distensibility and relation to cardiovascular risk factors in healthy young adults (The Bogalusa Heart Study).

Arterial distensibility decreases with age and atherosclerosis leading to increased pulse pressure (PP) and increased left ventricular work, resulting in left ventricular hypertrophy, a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity. Brachial artery pulse curve data were collected using the DynaPulse 2000A. Distensibility measured in 920 healthy young adults (40% men, 70% white, age range 18 to 38 years) was compared with levels of cardiovascular risk factors.

Age at acquisition of Helicobacter pylori infection: a follow-up study from infancy to adulthood.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is common worldwide, but the time of acquisition is unclear. We investigated this issue in a cohort of children selected retrospectively from a population followed up for 21 years.

Methods: We monitored 224 children (99 black, 125 white; 110 male, 114 female) from 1975-76 (ages 1-3 years) to 1995-96.

Bogalusa Heart Study: a long-term community study of a rural biracial (Black/White) population.

The Bogalusa Heart Study, a long-term population study with a continued relationship with a community, addresses the problem of capacity building in minority health research. The study was originally funded as a Specialized Center of Research-Arteriosclerosis (SCOR-A) by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). These centers were to conduct research on atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and complications of cardiovascular-renal disease as the major causes of deaths in the United States.

Emergence of obesity and cardiovascular risk for coronary artery disease: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

The underlying determinants of cardiovascular risk are governed by both genetic and lifestyle factors. One of the major adverse outcomes of unhealthy lifestyles is obesity, the genesis of which begins in childhood. Obesity, an important risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension, persists (tracks) strongly from adolescent years to adulthood.

Relation of childhood height to obesity among adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study .

Objective: In a previous study of the role of various predictors of adult obesity, we found that relatively tall children had a higher body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) in early adulthood. In this study, the objective was to determine whether childhood height is related to adult adiposity and whether the association is independent of childhood levels of BMI and triceps skinfold thickness.

Methods: The longitudinal relations of childhood height to relative weight and skinfold (sum of subscapular and triceps) thicknesses in adulthood were examined in a larger sample (N = 1055) of 2- to 8-year-olds who were followed for an average of 18 years.

Eating patterns, dietary quality and obesity.

Obesity among children has reached epidemic proportions. Today, an estimated one in four children in the United States is overweight. while 11% arc obese.

Predictability of childhood adiposity and insulin for developing insulin resistance syndrome (syndrome X) in young adulthood: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

The occurrence of insulin resistance syndrome (syndrome X) is common in the general population. However, information is scant on the childhood predictors of syndrome X. This study examined the relative contribution of childhood adiposity and insulin to the adulthood risk of developing syndrome X in a biracial (black-white) community-based longitudinal cohort (n = 745; baseline age, 8-17 years; mean +/- SD follow-up period, 11.

Trends of lipoprotein variables from childhood to adulthood in offspring of parents with coronary heart disease: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Although dyslipidemia among offspring of parents with coronary heart disease (CHD) has been known, the development of this adverse relationship with respect to specific lipoprotein variables from childhood to young adulthood has not been elucidated. This aspect was examined in a young adult cohort with (n = 271) and without (n = 805) a parental history of CHD followed longitudinally since childhood by repeated surveys from 1973 to 1991. Trends in fasting lipoprotein variables by parental CHD status were assessed by Lowess smoothing curve and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE).

Distribution and correlates of lipoproteins and their subclasses in black and white young adults. The Bogalusa Heart Study.

Lipoprotein subclasses vary in CAD risk potential, but their distribution and correlates are not well documented in black and white young adults. A subsample of 449 (32%) young adults (67% white, 58% female) aged 20-37 years examined in the Bogalusa Heart Study had lipoprotein subclasses measured in terms of cholesterol by vertical spin density-gradient ultracentrifugation. LDL subclass pattern was characterized as either predominantly LDL(1) (large, buoyant), LDL(2) (intermediate) or LDL(3) (small, dense).