Table 1.
Demographic, anthropometric and biochemical characteristics of the study cohort (n = 516).
| Characteristics | Baseline | Follow-up | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male sexa | 194 (37.6%) | 194 (37.6%) | NA |
| Age (years) | 12.8 ± 3.6 | 19.0 ± 3.6 | <0.001*** |
| Body weight (kg) | 42.4 ± 13.4 | 56.2 ± 12.0 | <0.001*** |
| Body height (cm) | 149.4 ± 16.0 | 163.3 ± 8.2 | <0.001*** |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 18.5 ± 3.1 | 20.9 ± 3.4 | <0.001*** |
| Body mass index z-score | 0.11 ± 1.09 | 0.16 ± 1.01 | 0.360 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 63.7 ± 8.9 | 69.8 ± 9.7 | <0.001*** |
| Waist-to-hip ratio | 0.78 ± 0.07 | 0.76 ± 0.06 | <0.001*** |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 108.3 ± 11.1 | 111.2 ± 10.0 | <0.001*** |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 66.0 ± 8.5 | 70.3 ± 7.8 | <0.001*** |
| HDL–cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.63 ± 0.34 | 1.58 ± 0.37 | 0.004** |
| LDL–cholesterol (mmol/L) | 2.21 ± 0.64 | 2.30 ± 0.64 | <0.001*** |
| Fasting triglyceride (mmol/L)b | 0.70 (0.60–1.00) | 0.80 (0.60–1.00) | 0.049* |
| Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) | 4.70 ± 0.36 | 4.58 ± 0.61 | <0.001*** |
Footnotes: Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation, number (percentage)a or median (interquartile range)b, as appropriate. The present study was based on an established cohort of 2053 Hong Kong Chinese school children and adolescents aged 6–20 years who were surveyed in 2007–2008. Using available funding support and resources, we randomly selected 580 subjects from the original cohort for a prospective follow-up between 2013 and 2015. Among them, 516 subjects (89%) agreed to participate in the follow-up study. At baseline and during follow-up, all participants had clinical and biochemical assessments including anthropometric measurements and blood tests after an overnight fast of 8–10 hours. Boldface indicates statistical significance (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001). Fasting triglyceride was logarithmically-transformed due to skewed distribution. We used paired t-test for within-subject changes. HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NA, not applicable.