Growth in height and its association with overweight and obesity in Mexican children: an evaluation based on a nationally representative sample (ENSANUT 2018).

The present study aimed to estimate the height growth curve for Mexican boys and girls based on their body mass index (BMI) status (normal and overweight/obese) and to develop a height Lambda, Mu, and Sigma (LMS) growth reference for Mexican children aged 2 to 18 years. Methods: Chronological age and height records (7,097 boys and 6,167 girls) were obtained from the Mexican National Survey of Health and Nutrition database. Height growth curves were fitted using the Preece-Baines 1 (PB1) model and the LMS method. Results: Age at peak height velocity (APHV) was 12.4 and 12.7 years for overweight-obese and normal-weight boys, respectively, and was 9.6 and 10.4 years for overweight-obese and normal-weight girls, respectively. Growth velocity was higher at the age of take-off (TO) in overweight-obese children than in normal-weight children (5.2 cm/year vs. 5 cm/year in boys and 6.1 cm/year vs. 5.6 cm/year in girls); nevertheless, the growth velocity at APHV was higher for normal-weight children than for overweight-obese children (7.4 cm/year vs. 6.6 cm/year in boys and 6.8 cm/year vs. 6.6 cm/year in girls, respectively). Distance curves developed in the present study and by the World Health Organization (WHO) using LMS showed similar values for L and S parameters and a higher M value compared with the WHO reference values. Conclusion: This study concluded that overweight-obese children had earlier APHV and lower PHV than normal-weight children. Furthermore, Mexican children and adolescents were shorter than the WHO growth reference by age and sex.

Comparison of body composition and body fat distribution of patients following a cardiac rehabilitation program and sedentary patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this investigation was to analyze differences in body composition and body fat distribution between subjects following a structured cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) and subjects not involved in any CRP. METHODS: Body composition and body fat distribution were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 62 male subjects, white, who had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD). The sample came from two groups: a CRP group (n=31) who had been engaged in phase IV of a CRP for more than a year (age: 58 +/- 10 years), and a non-CRP group (n=31) who were not involved in any CRP (age: 59 +/- 12 years). RESULTS: The non-CRP group showed higher values than the CRP group in the following variables: body weight (84.924 +/- 11.250 kg vs. 79.077 +/- 10.050 kg, p < 0.05), BMI (29.0 +/- 3.2 kg/m2 vs. 27.3 +/- 2.6 kg/m2, p < 0.05), body fat (BF) (24.584 +/- 6.696 kg vs. 20.010 +/- 7.340 kg, p < 0.05), % BF (28.6 +/- 4.9% vs. 24.7 +/- 6.7%, p < 0.05), trunk BF (14.563 +/- 4.408 kg vs. 11.430 +/- 4.743 kg, p < 0.01), % trunk BF (32.8 +/- 6.0% vs. 27.4 +/- 8.5%, p < 0.01), abdominal BF (2.934 +/- 1.068 kg vs. 2.083 +/- 1.058 kg, p < 0.01), % abdominal BF (37.2 +/- 6.1% vs. 31.3 +/- 9.4%, p < 0.01), visceral BF (2.401 +/- 0.693 kg vs. 1.731 +/- 0.826 kg, p < 0.01), % visceral BF (35.5 +/- 5.7% vs. 29.6 +/- 9.1%, p < 0.01), abdominal subcutaneous BF (0.533 +/- 0.421 kg vs. 0.353 +/- 0.257 kg, p = 0.05) and abdominal BF/BF ratio (0.12 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.10 +/- 0.02, p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the other variables studied, including total and regional fat-free mass. CONCLUSION: These results show that the subjects who did not participate in any CRP had a more adverse profile of body composition and body fat distribution. The higher values found for specific fat depots, as well as for the total abdominal BF/BF ratio, confirm the more adverse body fat distribution in non-CRP subjects. These data are in agreement with results from intervention studies in CAD patients.