Association of Urinary Albumin with Selected Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Obese Adolescents

Background: Childhood obesity has become a growing health problem in Egyptand other countries in the world. The prevalence of albuminuria is higher in obesity,and could represent an early indicator for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in obeseadolescents. Whether there is a real association between albuminuria and other CVDrisk factors remains a matter of debate.Purpose: In an attempt to answer this debate question, this study aims to assessthe association of urinary albumin with central obesity, blood pressure, fasting lipidprofile, and insulin resistance in obese adolescents.Methods: Forty obese adolescents aged 10-18 years, diagnosed with simple obesitywere recruited from the National Nutrition Institute in Egypt. Exclusion criteria wereadolescents with diabetes, kidney or liver prob-lems, and/or hormonal abnormalities.Measurements included anthropometric assess-ment, blood pressure measurement;and lab analysis for urinary albumin, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, and fastinglipid profile. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used for statistical analysis.Results: Statistically significant p ositive c orrelations h ave b een f ound o nly betweenalbuminuria and each of: duration of obesity (r=0.93, p= 0.00), waist/height ratio(r=0.65, p=0.00), and/or systolic blood pressure (r=0.33, p= 0.041).Conclusions: Urinary albumin has been significantly a ssociated w ith t he long-termexposure to excess body weight, central fatness, and systolic blood pressure, but notwith diastolic blood pressure, dyslipidemia or insulin resistance in obeseadolescents. Early detection of al-buminuria can have a protective role againstfuture hypertension and related target organ damage in this young population. Theobservations of our study may aid efforts directed to planning better health caresystem for obese children and/or adolescents in Egypt.