Prevalence of Hyperlipidemia in a group of Obese Adolescents in Tehran

Obesity is a common nutritional disorder among both children and adolescents, Alterations in plasma lipid profile are known to be risk factors for atherosclerotic diseases and have been associated with obesity . This research was designed in order to study the incidence of these alterations in obese adolescents. One hundred obese adolescents (mean age of 13.1+2.9 years) and 100 non-obese control adolescents matched for their age, gender and pubertal stages and were participated in this study. Early Morning blood samples for serum lipids were collected in all subjects after 12-14 hours overnight fasting. Mean serum cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-c) levels were significantly higher (P<0.05) among the obese children (Cholesterol: 197.3+29.4 VS 171.2+32.3 mg/dl. TG: 148.6+65.4 VS 108.2+38.4 mg/dl; LDL-C: 121.2+32.4 VS 102.4+28.1 in obese and control subjects respectively). Among the obese subjects, 22% had elevated serum cholesterol (>200mg/dl) compared to 8% in the controls. Thirty-three percent of the obese objects had elevated serum TG (>170mg/dl) compared to only 14% among the controls, and 13% had LDL-c levels above 130mg/dl compared to 4% among the control group. 1 To design comprehensive public health programs to reduce serum lipid levels. 2 Obesity should be considered a risk factor for dyslipoproteinemia, and screening for serum lipid levels, should be done in obese children and adolescents.