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Muscle strength and its association with cardiometabolic variables in adolescents: does the expression of muscle strength values matter?

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Abstract

Background

We investigate the association between different muscle strength (MS) indices with cardiometabolic variables in adolescents.

Methods

Cross-sectional study comprising 351 adolescents (male 44.4%, age 16.6 ± 1.0 years) from Brazil. MS was assessed by handgrip strength and analyzed in five different ways: absolute MS and MS normalized for body weight, body mass index (BMI), height, and fat mass, respectively. Cardiometabolic variables investigated as outcomes were systolic and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), waist circumference (WC), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), lipid and glucose metabolism markers. Multiple linear regression models adjusted for confounding factors were used.

Results

Absolute MS and/or MS normalized for height was directly associated with WC [up to 32.8 cm, standard error (SE) = 4.7] and DBP (up to 8.8 mmHg, SE = 0.8), and inversely associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (up to −8.0 mg/dL, SE = 14.1). MS normalized for body weight, BMI or fat mass was inversely associated with WC (up to −17.5 cm, SE = 2.2). According to sex, MS normalized for fat mass was inversely associated with triglycerides (male: 0.02 times lower, SE = 0.01; female: 0.05 times lower, SE = 0.01) and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (male: 0.02 times lower, SE = 0.01; female: 0.06 times lower, SE = 0.01), and inversely associated with hs-CRP only among male (0.03 times lower, SE = 0.01).

Conclusion

When normalized for body weight, BMI or fat mass, MS was superior to absolute MS or MS normalized for height in representing adequately cardiometabolic variables among adolescents.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the team of the Clinical Analysis Laboratory of the University Hospital “Professor Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago” at Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil, for conducting blood tests. Dr. Silva was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 and Dr. Silva is supported in part by CNPq (302028/2018-8).

Funding

This study was not funded.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center in Kinanthropometry and Human Performance, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Trinity University Campus, Florianópolis, SC, CEP 88010-970, Brazil

    Tiago Rodrigues de Lima & Diego Augusto Santos Silva

  2. Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Xuemei Sui

  3. Research Group On Biodynamics of Human Performance and Health, Institute of Physical Education and Sport, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil

    Luiz Rodrigo Augustemak de Lima

Authors
  1. Tiago Rodrigues de Lima
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  2. Xuemei Sui
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  3. Luiz Rodrigo Augustemak de Lima
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  4. Diego Augusto Santos Silva
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Contributions

dLTR contributed to conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, and writing of original draft preparation. SX contributed to conceptualization, methodology, investigation, review and editing. ALLR contributed to conceptualization, methodology, investigation, review and editing. SSDA contributed to conceptualization, methodology, investigation, review and editing, supervision, and project administration. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiago Rodrigues de Lima.

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Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee on Human Research of the Federal University of Santa (protocol nº 3.523.470).

Conflict of interest

No financial or non-financial benefits have been received or will be received from any party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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All authors approve to deposit data that support the findings of their research in a public repository.

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de Lima, T.R., Sui, X., de Lima, L.R.A. et al. Muscle strength and its association with cardiometabolic variables in adolescents: does the expression of muscle strength values matter?. World J Pediatr 17, 597–608 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-021-00460-x

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