Table 2. Physical and clinical characteristics of pre-pubertal schoolchildren according to body mass index classification.
| Underweight | Normal | OverWeight | Obese | ||
| BMI class | (n = 11) | (n = 152) | (n = 14) | (n = 21) | p-value |
| Age (years) | 9.6 ± 1.1 | 9.2 ± 1.0 | 9.6 ± 1.3 | 9.4 ± 1.4 | 0.707 |
| Birth weight (kg) | 3.27 ± 0.6 | 3.12 ± 0.6 | 3.46 ± 0.4 | 3.47 ± 0.4# | 0.046 |
| Current weight (kg) | 25.6 ± 6.6 | 30.1 ± 5.1 | 42.3 ± 8.8# | 52.1 ± 11.1#§ | < 0.001 |
| Height (cm) | 137.2 ± 15.4 | 136.4 ± 8.3 | 141.8 ± 10.8 | 141.7 ± 7.7# | 0.054 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 13.3 ± 0.8# | 16.2 ± 1.4 | 20.8 ± 1.4## | 26.2 ± 3.6#§ | < 0.001 |
| WC (cm) | 50.6 ± 4.7# | 55.9 ± 4.7 | 68.1 ± 5.8# | 78.5 ± 1.7# | < 0.001 |
| HC (cm) | 62.4 ± 6.4# | 68.8 ± 6.1 | 83.7 ± 6.1# | 91.3 ± 7.8 | < 0.001 |
| WHR | 0.81 ± 0.04 | 0.81 ± 0.04 | 0.81 ± 0.03 | 0.86 ± 0.03#§ | < 0.001 |
| Fat mass (kg) | 3.6 ± 0.7 | 5.3 ± 1.8 | 10.5 ± 3.8# | 15.3 ± 4.6#§ | < 0.001 |
| SBP (mmHg) | 99.0 ± 8.9 | 103.1 ± 7.6 | 106.1 ± 6.7 | 113.1 ± 8.9#§ | < 0.001 |
| DBP (mmHg) | 60.7 ± 3.3 | 62.2 ± 6.4 | 65.3 ± 7.2 | 70.1 ± 7.5# | < 0.001 |
| HR (bpm) | 85.5 ± 10.3 | 83.2 ± 10 | 81.4 ± 12.5 | 80.2 ± 9.7 | 0.585 |
| Glycaemia (mg/dl) | 91.3 ± 13.4 | 87.5 ± 14.5 | 83.7 ± 17.8 | 82.0 ± 14.8 | 0.327 |
| (mmol/l) | 5.07 ± 0.74 | 4.86 ± 0.80 | 4.65 ± 0.99 | 4.55 ± 0.82 | |
| TC (mg/dl) | 194.6 ± 40.9 | 170.6 ± 34.5 | 176.3 ± 35.3 | 166.3 ± 35.5 | 0.127 |
| (mmol/l) | 5.04 ± 1.06 | 4.42 ± 0.89 | 4.57 ± 0.91 | 4.31 ± 0.92 | |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 75.8 ± 26.7 | 63.4 ± 30.1 | 49.7 ± 17.9 | 77.5 ± 35.7§ | 0.039 |
| (mmol/l) | 0.86 ± 0.30 | 0.72 ± 0.34 | 0.56 ± 0.20 | 0.88 ± 0.40 | |
| LDL-C (mg/dl) | 115.6 ± 40.3 | 105.5 ± 32.4 | 109.4 ± 32.3 | 97.5 ± 34.6 | 0.458 |
| (mmol/l) | 2.99 ± 1.04 | 2.73 ± 0.84 | 2.83 ± 0.84 | 2.53 ± 0.90 | |
| HDL-C (mg/dl) | 63.5 ± 9.89 | 58.7 ± 13.1 | 56.5 ± 8.67 | 54.9 ± 12.5 | 0.256 |
| (mmol/l) | 1.64 ± 0.26 | 1.52 ± 0.34 | 1.46 ± 0.22 | 1.42 ± 0.32 | |
| LDL-C/HDL-C | 1.83 ± 0.7 | 1.82 ± 0.7 | 1.97 ± 0.6 | 1.89 ± 0.91 | 0.973 |
Data presented as mean ± standard deviation, BMI; body mass index, WC, waist circumference; HC, hip circumference; WHR, waist/hip ratio, SBP; systolic blood pressure; DBP; diastolic blood pressure, HR; heart rate, TC, total cholesterol; LDL-C; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDL-C; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
#Difference between normal BMI with underweight, overweight and obesity;
§Difference between overweight and obesity.