Relationship Between Trajectories of Trunk Fat Mass Development in Adolescence and Cardiometabolic Risk in Young Adulthood

To examine developmental trajectories of trunk fat mass (FM) growth of individuals categorized as either low or high for cardiometabolic risk at 26 years, a total of 55 males and 76 females from the Saskatchewan Pediatric Bone Mineral Accrual Study (1991-2007) were assessed from adolescence (11.5 +/- 1.8 years) to young adulthood (26.2 +/- 2.2 years) (median of 11 visits per individual) and had a measure of cardiometabolic risk in young adulthood. Participants were categorized as low or high for blood pressure and cardiometabolic risk as adults using a sex-specific median split of continuous standardized risk scores. Individual trunk FM trajectories of participants in each risk group were analyzed using multilevel random effects models. Males and females in the high blood pressure group had significantly steeper (accelerated) trajectories of trunk FM development (0.61 +/- 0.14 and 0.52 +/- 0.10 log g, respectively) than those in the low blood pressure group for females in the high cardiometabolic risk group trajectory of trunk FM was significantly steeper (0.52 +/- 0.10 log g) than those females in the low cardiometabolic risk group. Dietary fat was positively related (0.01 +/- 0.003 g/1,000 kcal) and physical activity negatively related (-0.16 +/- 0.05 physical activity score) to trunk FM development in males. Young adults with high cardiometabolic risk, compared to low, have greater trunk FM as early as 8 years of age, which supports the need for early intervention.