Anthropometric and metabolic pattern in obese Egyptian children: its association with C-reactive protein

Background Obesity is the most common chronic metabolic disease in children. The global prevalence of obesity has doubled from 1990 to 2015. Worryingly, the increase is more in children than adults. It has reached epidemic ranges and is a significant global problem. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a parameter that is used to assess inflammation and risk factor for cardiovascular events. Some reports describe an association between hs-CRP and obesity. The objective of the study is to evaluate anthropometric and metabolic parameters in obese Egyptian children and correlate them with hs-CRP level. Results For anthropometric variables, they were significantly higher in obese group than normal weight except for height (Pvalue 0.001). A significant difference was reported for all lipid profile parameters between obese and normal-weight groups (Pvalue 0.001). Also, CRP showed a positive correlation with both BMI as well as total cholesterol, while no correlation was observed with other parameters of obesity (r: 0.41, 0.29 respectively). Conclusion Elevated CRP may have a role in predicting altered lipid metabolism in obese children and this raises the possibility of cardiovascular diseases. Hence, preventive measures to control obesity is necessary.