Relationship of weight status and cardiometabolic outcomes for adolescents in the teams study

The increase in the prevalence of obesity among youth is alarming. Relationships exist between excess weight and adverse cardiometabolic markers. The aims of this study among adolescents in the Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools (TEAMS) project were to describe selected demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and laboratory values of middle school students; contrast differences in rates of cardiometabolic markers for participants with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95th percentile and <95th percentile; examine rates of exceeding cardiometabolic cutoffs by weight status; and predict the odds ratio for one or more adverse cardiometabolic outcomes when BMI ≥95th percentile. Students (N = 151) were significantly more likely to exceed cut-off points for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and blood pressure (BP) when BMI was ≥95th percentile. Students whose BMI was ≥the 95th percentile were nearly five times as likely to have the deleterious cardiometabolic outcomes of low HDL-C, high triglycerides, elevated homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), or elevated systolic BP than those whose BMI was ≥the 95th percentile. Nurses and other clinicians should view BMI ≥95th percentile as an indicator of other risk factors that merits additional assessments and interventions to improve health.