Cardiometabolic Risk and Its Relationship With Visceral Adiposity in Children With Cerebral Palsy.

Context: Adults with cerebral palsy (CP) display a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic disease compared with the general population. Studies examining cardiometabolic disease risk in children with CP are limited.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if children with CP exhibit higher cardiometabolic risk than typically developing children, and to examine its relationship with visceral adiposity and physical activity.

Exercise effects on arterial stiffness and heart health in children with excess weight: The SMART RCT.

Introduction: Childhood obesity and inactivity are associated with cardiovascular risk. Evidence is limited for exercise effects on arterial health in children.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-five inactive children with overweight or obesity (8-11 years, ≥85th percentile BMI, 61% female, 87% Black, 73% with obesity) were randomized to an 8-month daily after-school aerobic exercise program (40 min/day, n = 90) or a sedentary control condition (n = 85).

Maternal blood pressure mediates the association between maternal obesity and infant weight gain in early postpartum.

Background: It is unknown to what extent higher maternal blood pressure (BP) in early postpartum impacts the relationship between higher maternal weight status and greater infant weight gain in early postpartum.

Objective: To evaluate the mediating role of higher maternal BP at 1 month postpartum on the association between higher maternal weight status at 1 month postpartum and greater infant weight gain over 6 months postpartum.

Methods: Participants were 169 Hispanic mother-infant pairs.

Proportionality at birth and left ventricular hypertrophy in healthy adolescents.

Background: Perinatal growth has important implications for cardiac development. Low birth weight is associated with cardiovascular (CV) events and mortality, and animal studies have shown that fetal growth restriction is associated with cardiac remodeling in the perinatal period leading to a permanent loss of cardiomyocyte endowment and compensatory hypertrophy.

Aims: To determine associations of birthweight (BW) and multiple proportionality indexes (body mass index (BMI); weight/length and Ponderal index (PI); weight/length) at birth on one hand, with left ventricular (LV) structure and function during adolescence.

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Intact Parathyroid Hormone Influence Muscle Outcomes in Children and Adolescents.

Increases in 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are shown to improve strength in adults; however, data in pediatric populations are scant and equivocal. In this ancillary study of a larger-scale, multi-sited, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled vitamin D intervention in US children and adolescents, we examined the associations between changes in vitamin D metabolites and changes in muscle mass, strength, and composition after 12 weeks of vitamin D supplementation. Healthy male and female, black and white children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 13 years from two US states (Georgia 34°N and Indiana 40°N) were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to receive an oral vitamin D dose of 0, 400, 1000, 2000, or 4000 IU/d for 12 weeks between the winter months of 2009 to 2011 (N = 324).

Inactive Matrix Gla Protein, Arterial Stiffness, and Endothelial Function in African American Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a vascular calcification inhibitor dependent upon vitamin K for activation. Evidence suggests that elevated plasma inactive MGP levels (desphospho-uncarboxylated MGP, dp-ucMGP; indicating poorer vascular vitamin K status) are associated with greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Despite African Americans experiencing highest rates of kidney failure and CVD events, relationships between dp-ucMGP and CVD risk markers have not been examined in this population.

Dose responses of vitamin D3 supplementation on arterial stiffness in overweight African Americans with vitamin D deficiency: A placebo controlled randomized trial.

Background: Clinical trials are scant and equivocal on whether vitamin D can ameliorate arterial stiffness, particularly in populations at high risk for vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study determined the dose-response effects of vitamin D3 supplementation on arterial stiffness in overweight African Americans with vitamin D deficiency.

Methods: Seventy overweight African Americans (aged 13-45 years) with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels ≤ 20 ng/mL were randomized to monthly oral supplementation of 18,000 IU (~600 IU/day, n = 17), 60,000 IU (~2000 IU/day, n = 18), or 120,000 IU (~4000 IU/day, n = 18) of vitamin D3 or placebo (n = 17) for 16-weeks.

Fitness, Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Symptoms of Depression, and Cognition in Inactive Overweight Children: Mediation Models.

Objectives: We used mediation models to examine the mechanisms underlying the relationships among physical fitness, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), symptoms of depression, and cognitive functioning.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis of the cohorts involved in the 2003-2006 project PLAY (a trial of the effects of aerobic exercise on health and cognition) and the 2008-2011 SMART study (a trial of the effects of exercise on cognition). A total of 397 inactive overweight children aged 7-11 received a fitness test, standardized cognitive test (Cognitive Assessment System, yielding Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive, and Full Scale scores), and depression questionnaire.

Phylloquinone Intake Is Associated with Cardiac Structure and Function in Adolescents.

Background: Associations between childhood vitamin K consumption and cardiac structure and function have not been investigated.

Objective: We determined associations between phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) intake and left ventricular (LV) structure and function in adolescents.

Methods: We assessed diet with three to seven 24-h recalls and physical activity (PA) by accelerometry in 766 adolescents (aged 14-18 y, 50% female, 49% black).

Obese Versus Normal-Weight Late-Adolescent Females have Inferior Trabecular Bone Microarchitecture: A Pilot Case-Control Study.

Though still a topic of debate, the position that skeletal health is compromised with obesity has received support in the pediatric and adult literature. The limited data relating specifically to trabecular bone microarchitecture, however, have been relatively inconsistent. The aim of this pilot cross-sectional case-control study was to compare trabecular bone microarchitecture between obese (OB) and normal-weight (NW) late-adolescent females.

Zinc Supplementation Does Not Alter Indicators of Insulin Secretion and Sensitivity in Black and White Female Adolescents.

Zinc is a micronutrient involved in the production of, and peripheral sensitivity to, pancreatic β cell-derived insulin. To our knowledge, the effect of zinc supplementation on insulin outcomes, and potential risk of diabetes, in otherwise healthy children in the United States has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of zinc supplementation on insulin outcomes in black and white girls in the early stages of adolescence.

Whole-Body Vibration Mimics the Metabolic Effects of Exercise in Male Leptin Receptor-Deficient Mice.

Whole-body vibration (WBV) has gained attention as a potential exercise mimetic, but direct comparisons with the metabolic effects of exercise are scarce. To determine whether WBV recapitulates the metabolic and osteogenic effects of physical activity, we exposed male wild-type (WT) and leptin receptor-deficient (db/db) mice to daily treadmill exercise (TE) or WBV for 3 months. Body weights were analyzed and compared with WT and db/db mice that remained sedentary.

Insulin Resistance and the IGF-I-Cortical Bone Relationship in Children Ages 9 to 13 Years.

IGF-I is a pivotal hormone in pediatric musculoskeletal development. Although recent data suggest that the role of IGF-I in total body lean mass and total body bone mass accrual may be compromised in children with insulin resistance, cortical bone geometric outcomes have not been studied in this context. Therefore, we explored the influence of insulin resistance on the relationship between IGF-I and cortical bone in children.

Correction: Race/Ethnicity-Specific Association of Vitamin D and Global DNA Methylation: Cross-Sectional and Interventional Findings.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Nonlinear Relationship between Birth Weight and Visceral Fat in Adolescents.

Objective: To determine the association of birth weight with abdominal fat distribution and markers known to increase risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in adolescents.

Study Design: In 575 adolescents aged 14-18 years (52% female, 46% black), birth weight was obtained by parental recall. Fasting blood samples were measured for glucose, insulin, lipids, adiponectin, leptin, and C-reactive protein.

Race/Ethnicity-Specific Association of Vitamin D and Global DNA Methylation: Cross-Sectional and Interventional Findings.

Objectives: Understanding of the influence of vitamin D deficiency on epigenome will provide novel insights into the chronic disease risk. We tested our hypotheses that 1) vitamin D deficiency is associated with global hypomethylation and this association may be race/ethnicity dependent; and 2) vitamin D supplementation will increase global DNA methylation level.

Methods: A two-stage design, cross-sectional observation followed by a 16 week randomized, double- blinded, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) of vitamin D3 supplementation, was undertaken.

Zinc Supplementation Increases Procollagen Type 1 Amino-Terminal Propeptide in Premenarcheal Girls: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Data have shown that healthy children and adolescents have an inadequate intake of zinc, an essential nutrient for growth. It is unclear whether zinc supplementation can enhance bone health during this rapid period of growth and development.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of zinc supplementation on biochemical markers of bone turnover and growth in girls entering the early stages of puberty.

Dose and time responses of vitamin D biomarkers to monthly vitamin D3 supplementation in overweight/obese African Americans with suboptimal vitamin d status: a placebo controlled randomized clinical trial.

Background: A critical need exists to better understand the physiological sequel of vitamin D supplementation in obese individuals and African Americans. The aim was to comprehensively evaluate dose- and time-responses of a panel of vitamin D biomarkers to vitamin D supplements in this population.

Methods: We conducted a 16-week randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Childhood obesity, bone development, and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Osteoporosis and obesity are both major public health concerns. It has long been considered that these are distinct disorders rarely found in the same individual; however, emerging evidence supports an important interaction between adipose tissue and the skeleton. Whereas overweight per se may augment bone strength, animal studies suggest that the metabolic impairment that accompanies obesity is detrimental to bone.

Load-specific physical activity scores are related to tibia bone architecture.

Assessment of physical activity in clinical bone studies is essential. Two bone-specific physical activity scoring methods, the Bone Loading History Questionnaire (BLHQ) and Bone-Specific Physical Activity Questionnaire (BPAQ), have shown correlations with bone density and geometry, but not architecture. The purpose of this study was to determine relationships between physical activity scoring methods and bone architecture in non-Hispanic white adolescent females (N = 24; 18-19 years of age).

Obesity elicits interleukin 1-mediated deficits in hippocampal synaptic plasticity.

Adipose tissue is a known source of proinflammatory cytokines in obese humans and animal models, including the db/db mouse, in which obesity arises as a result of leptin receptor insensitivity. Inflammatory cytokines induce cognitive deficits across numerous conditions, but no studies have determined whether obesity-induced inflammation mediates synaptic dysfunction. To address this question, we used a treadmill training paradigm in which mice were exposed to daily training sessions or an immobile belt, with motivation achieved by delivery of compressed air on noncompliance.

Dietary sodium, adiposity, and inflammation in healthy adolescents.

Objectives: To determine the relationships of sodium intake with adiposity and inflammation in healthy adolescents.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involved 766 healthy white and African American adolescents aged 14 to 18 years. Dietary sodium intake was estimated by 7-day 24-hour dietary recall.

Weight gain in college females is not prevented by isoflavone-rich soy protein: a randomized controlled trial.

Human clinical trials targeted at preventing gains in body weight using soy protein and isoflavones are limited to adults and yield conflicting results. We hypothesized that daily intake of soy protein/isoflavones would attenuate gains in body weight to a greater extent than a casein-based control in 18 to 19 year-old females. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial over 16 weeks to examine the effects of a soy protein/isoflavone-based meal replacement (experimental group) versus a casein-based meal replacement (control group) on body weight and body composition variables in female college freshmen (N = 120).

Urinary prostasin excretion is associated with adiposity in nonhypertensive African-American adolescents.

Background: Metabolic abnormalities in obesity can overstimulate the renal epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and subsequently lead to blood pressure (BP) elevation. Prostasin, a membrane-bound/secretive serine protease, is thought to activate ENaC via the proteolytic cleavage of the channel. Our specific aim was to explore whether there is a relationship between adiposity and urinary prostasin excretion at the population level.

Associations of total and undercarboxylated osteocalcin with peripheral and hepatic insulin sensitivity and β-cell function in overweight adults.

Context: Animal studies indicate that osteocalcin (OC), particularly the undercarboxylated isoform (unOC), affects insulin sensitivity and secretion, but definitive data from humans are lacking.

Objective: The objectives of the study were to determine whether total OC and unOC are independently associated with insulin sensitivity and β-cell response in overweight/obese adults; whether glucose tolerance status affects these associations; and whether the associations are independent of bone formation, as reflected in procollagen type 1 amino propeptide (P1NP).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a university research center involving 63 overweight/obese adults with normal (n = 39) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG; n = 24).