Negative associations between step-up height and waist circumference in 8-year-old children and their parents

Abstract

Aim: To study cross-sectional relationships between step-up height and waist circumference (WC), a potential proxy for sarcopenic obesity, in Swedish children and parents.

Methods: Participants were recruited from Swedish schools in disadvantaged areas in 2017. Height, body weight, WC and maximal step-up height were measured in 67 eight-year-old children and parents: 58 mothers, with a mean age of 38.5 and 32 fathers, with a mean age of 41.3. Sedentary time and physical activity were registered by an accelerometer. Associations between maximal step-up height and WC were analysed using Pearson's correlation and adjusted linear regression.

Results: Abdominal obesity, WC ≥ 66 centimetres (cm) in children, ≥88 cm in women and ≥102 cm in men, was observed in 13% and 35% of girls and boys, and in 53% and 34% among mothers and fathers, respectively. Negative associations between maximal step-up height and WC were found for children (r = -0.37, p = 0.002) and adults (mothers r = -0.58, p < 0.001, fathers r = -0.48, p = 0.006). The associations remained after adjustments for height, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity in adults. Reduced muscle strength clustered within families (r = 0.54, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Associations between reduced muscle strength and abdominal obesity were observed in children and parents. Sarcopenic obesity may need more attention in children. Our findings support family interventions.

Keywords: Sarcopenic obesity; abdominal obesity; family; muscle strength; physical activity.