Publications by authors named "Lars B Andersen"
The link between aerobic fitness and physical activity in children has been studied in a number of earlier studies and the results have generally shown weak to moderate correlations. This overall finding has been widely questioned partly because of the difficulty in obtaining valid estimates of physical activity. This study investigated the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship between aerobic fitness and physical activity in a representative sample of 9 and 15-year-old children (n = 1260 cross-sectional, n = 153 longitudinal).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: It is not clear the extent to which change in adiposity and cardiovascular fitness (CRF) during early childhood are associated with change in cardiovascular risk factors or if associations are independent or interactive.
Methods: 383 Danish children were examined at ages 6 and 9. CRF, sum of skinfolds (SSF), and blood pressure were assessed.
Objectives: To examine markers of inflammation in 9- and 15-year-olds with high waist circumference and compare these with controls, and to examine the relationships between inflammatory markers and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.
Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from 2 299 Norwegian 9- and 15-year-olds participating in the "Physical activity among Norwegian Children Study". In each sex and age group, the 10 participants with the highest waist circumference (HW) were selected (n=40) for analyses, and a random sample of 40 participants within the same groups were included as controls.
Objective: The literature on associations between fat intake and weight development among both children and adults is inconsistent, even if it is generally assumed that a high dietary fat intake is a major determinant of obesity. The present study aimed at investigating the association between fat intake and weight development among a cohort of children aged 9-10 years at baseline and 15-16 years at follow-up, and, further, at investigating whether parents' obesity is modifying the association.
Method: Among 384 subjects aged 9 years, data on dietary intake, BMI z-score, physical activity, inactivity, parents' social status, parents' body mass index, child birth weight, and status of puberty was obtained in 1997.
The purpose of this study was to investigate by direct measurement the cross-sectional relationship between accelerometer-measured physical activity and peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak): ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)), in a population-based cohort of young children, since such data are scarce. The study included 468 children (246 boys, 222 girls) aged 6.7 + or - 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim was to evaluate the possible role of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), low fitness, and fatness in the early development of clustering of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and insulin resistance. Subjects for this cross-sectional study were obtained from 18 schools near Copenhagen, Denmark. Two hundred ten 9-year-old children were selected for cytokine analysis from 434 third-grade children with complete CVD risk profiles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Due to the negative health consequences of childhood obesity monitoring trends in body mass and adiposity is essential. The purpose of this study was to describe secular trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among 9-year-old children, and to study changes in adiposity and fat distribution by investigating changes in waist circumference (WC) and skinfold thicknesses.
Methods: A total of 859 9-year-olds were included in two cross-sectional studies conducted in 1999-2000 and 2005.
Objective: Growth hormone (GH) affects linear growth and body composition, by increasing the secretion of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), muscle protein synthesis and lipolysis. The intake of protein (PROT) as well as the specific amino acids arginine (ARG) and lysine (LYS) stimulates GH/IGF-I secretion. The present paper aimed to investigate associations between PROT intake as well as intake of the specific amino acids ARG and LYS, and subsequent 3-year-change in linear growth and body composition among 6-year-old children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The goal of this study was to investigate whether the effects of common genetic variants associated with fasting glucose in adults are detectable in healthy children.
Research Design And Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphisms in MTNR1B (rs10830963), G6PC2 (rs560887), and GCK (rs4607517) were genotyped in 2,025 healthy European children aged 9-11 and 14-16 years. Associations with fasting glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-insulin resistance (IR) and HOMA-B were investigated along with those observed for type 2 diabetes variants available in this study (CDKN2A/B, IGF2BP2, CDKAL1, SLC30A8, HHEX-IDE, and Chr 11p12).
Background: Identifying leisure time activities performed before and after school that influence time in physical activity (PA) and/or time spent sedentary can provide useful information when designing interventions aimed to promote an active lifestyle in young people. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between mode of transportation to school, outdoor play after school, participation in exercise in clubs, and TV viewing with objectively assessed PA and sedentary behaviour in children.
Methods: A total of 1327 nine- and 15-year-old children from three European countries (Norway, Estonia, Portugal) participated as part of the European Youth Heart Study.
Prognostic biomarkers are needed to identify children at increased cardiometabolic risk. The objective was to study whether markers of metabolism and inflammation, for example, circulating plasma adiponectin, leptin, interleukin-8, and hepatocyte growth factor, are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in childhood and adolescence. This was a cross-sectional and prospective study, and the setting was the Danish part of the European Youth Heart Studies I and II.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - The study investigates how plasma biomarkers related to metabolism and inflammation (adiponectin, leptin, IL-8, and HGF) are linked to insulin insensitivity in children, particularly focusing on 8-10 and 14-16 year-old Danish participants.
- - Results show that lower levels of adiponectin at baseline are tied to higher insulin insensitivity six years later among overweight children, while higher leptin levels correlate with current insulin insensitivity in younger children but not over time.
- - Ultimately, the research highlights a significant association between low adiponectin and increased insulin insensitivity during adolescence, especially in overweight kids, suggesting early metabolic health monitoring may be beneficial.
Background: The literature on seasonality in children and youth's physical activity participation is inconsistent. The aims of this study were to: 1) compare physical activity across seasons and describe activity patterns within seasons, and 2) to determine compliance with current physical activity recommendations across seasons among 9- and 15-year-olds living in a climatically diverse country.
Methods: Participants were 2,299 9- and 15-year-olds from all regions in Norway.
Independent associations between personal- and demographic characteristics and physical activity in 3-6 year old children attending preschool were identified in this study. Boys spent a larger proportion of the time on moderate-and-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; p < .001) and had a higher total physical activity level compared with girls (p < .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To examine the independent associations of muscle fitness and cardiorespiratory fitness with clustered metabolic risk in youth.
Methods: In 2005-2006, a cohort of 9- and 15-yr-olds (N = 2818) was randomly selected from all regions of Norway. The participation rate was 89% and 74% among the 9-and 15-yr-olds, respectively.
Purpose: To describe changes in objectively assessed physical activity by socioeconomic status (SES) between 1999-2000 and 2005 in 9-yr-old children living in Oslo, Norway.
Methods: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in 1999-2000 and 2005. The participation rate was 70.
The timing of puberty is highly variable. We carried out a genome-wide association study for age at menarche in 4,714 women and report an association in LIN28B on chromosome 6 (rs314276, minor allele frequency (MAF) = 0.33, P = 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first genome-wide association study for BMI identified a polymorphism, rs7566605, 10 kb upstream of the insulin-induced gene 2 (INSIG2) transcription start site, as the most significantly associated variant in children and adults. Subsequent studies, however, showed inconsistent association of this polymorphism with obesity traits. This polymorphism has been hypothesized to alter INSIG2 expression leading to inhibition of fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objective of the study was to describe the distribution of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, and to evaluate the extent of clustering of CVD risk factors in Norwegian children and adolescents.
Material And Methods: A randomly selected cohort of 9-year-olds and 15-year-olds from all regions of the country was sampled. Of 2,818 subjects invited to participate, 2,299 accepted, giving an overall participation rate of 82%.
Background: Until recently, there has been no unified definition of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the youth. Therefore, the prevalence of MetS and its association with potential correlates are largely unknown.
Objective: The objective was to quantify the prevalence, identify the correlates, and examine the independent associations between potential correlates with MetS.
Background: There is a shortage of longitudinal data analyzing associations between physical activity and indicators of insulin resistance among children and adolescents after accounting for adiposity change. To guide future prevention efforts, data were used from the Danish arm of the European Youth Heart Study to examine these issues.
Methods: Participants were 384 students in Grade 9 (aged 15 years) from the municipality of Odense, Denmark, who participated in surveys in 1997 and 2003.
Objective: Examine if home environmental factors are associated with screen-viewing.
Methods: Data are for 2670, 3rd and 9th grade participants in Denmark, Portugal, Estonia and Norway collected between 1997 and 2000. Outcomes were spending >2 h after-school watching television (TV) and >1 h per day playing computer games.
Objective: To investigate whether change in transport to school from non-cycling to cycling was associated with change in cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) over a six-year follow-up.
Methods: Participants were 384 children (9.7 (0.