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Methods: Independent sample t-tests and chi-square were used to analyze differences in total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides, lipid categorization (based on NHLBI Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents), and pedometer average steps per week between overweight and obese teens and between male and female teens.
Results: There were 148 overweight or obese teens that were included in this baseline analysis. All mean levels in lipid parameters were higher in the obese teens versus overweight teens except HDL which was lower in obese teens versus overweight teens. Mean pedometer steps per week also were lower in the obese teens versus the overweight teens. There were significant differences between overweight and obese teens’ total cholesterol (p=.004), HDL (p=.003), LDL (p=.000), triglycerides (p=.000) and steps per week (p=.053).
Only 14.5% of obese teens had an “Acceptable” lipid profile with 68.4% have an “Abnormal” profile. This is compared with 25.4% of overweight teens who had an “Acceptable” lipid profile versus 46.5% having an “Abnormal” profile (p=.027).There were significant differences between male overweight and obese for all lipid parameters (p<.05). The only significantly different lipid parameters for females between overweight and obese teens was LDL (p=.017). There were significant differences between males and females who were obese: HDL was significantly lower in males (p=.002), triglycerides were higher in males (p=.032), and steps per week were lower in females (p=.020).
Conclusion: In this sample of overweight and obese teens, there appears to be greater cardiovascular risk as evidenced by serum lipid levels and amount of physical activity in obese versus overweight teens. These findings highlight the importance of aggressive interventions to address risk factor modification in obese adolescents.