Selected predictor variables and the lipid-lipoprotein profile of prepubertal girls and boys

Purpose: It is still unclear how habitual physical activity (HPA), peak (V) over dot O-2, percent body fat (%BF), and dietary composition are related to the lipid-lipoprotein profile in children. The purpose of this study was to identify independent contributions from these selected predictor variab les to prepubertal children's lipid-lipoprotein profile. Methods: Peak (V) over dot O-2, HPA from continuous heart rate monitoring, %BF, 7-d dietary a nalysis, total cholesterol (TC), total triacylglycerol (TG), high density l ipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholest erol (LDL-C), TC/HDL-C, and LDL-C/HDL-C were determined in 33 prepubertal g irls and 38 prepubertal boys (mean +/- SD age, 10.6 +/- 0.7 yr). Results: B ivariate correlation analyses revealed that peak (V) over dot O-2, %BF, and HPA were related to the lipid-lipoprotein profile in girls (P < 0.05). For the boys, HPA was only related to TC/HDL-C (P < 0.05) and LDL-C/HDL-C (P < 0.05), whereas daily energy intake (kJ . d(-1)) was associated with TC and LDL-C (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that peak (V) over dot O-2, %BF and HPA were the main predictor variables for the gir ls. Peak (V) over dot O-2 accounted for 22.7%, 24.8%, 22.5%, and 24.2% of t he unique variance (sr(i)(2)) in TG, HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and TC/HDL-C, resp ectively. For TC and LDL-C in girls, sr(i)(2) were 18.0% and 22.6%, respect ively, from HPA. In contrast, only daily energy intake had a significant un ique contribution to the variance of TC (15.4%) and LDL-C (22.0%) for the b oys. Summary: The main findings from this study were that the predictor var iables are lipid-lipoprotein specific and depend on gender. These results w ould support the growing evidence that it is important to nurture an active lifestyle in children from an early age and that an awareness of fitness a nd body fatness is required.