Objective:To explore the correlation between skeletal muscle mass and strength with metabolic syndrome in children.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted involving 383 children aged 10 to 15 years who visited the Department of Child Health Care, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2021 to December 2022. Their height, weight, waist circumference, body composition, grip strength and blood pressure were measured. Relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index were calculated. The levels of fasting blood glucose, lipids and insulin were tested. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Children were divided into the metabolic syndrome group and the non-metabolic syndrome group. Independent t test or Mann-Whitney U test etc. was used to compare the difference between groups. Spearman correlation analysis and binary Logistic regression were used to investigate the correlation between skeletal muscle mass and strength and metabolic syndrome. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the accuracy of the index of skeletal muscle in predicting metabolic syndrome in children. Results:Among the 383 children, 282 (73.6%) were male, at the age of 11.4 (10.6, 12.5) years. There were 216 children (56.4%) diagnosed with obesity and 90 children (23.5%) diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index of the metabolic syndrome group were all lower than those in the non-metabolic syndrome group (all P<0.001). After adjusting for sex and age, relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index were all negatively correlated with body mass index ( r=-0.84, -0.38, -0.63), waist circumference ( r=-0.76, -0.36, -0.70), systolic blood pressure ( r=-0.42, -0.21, -0.38), diastolic blood pressure ( r=-0.33, -0.18, -0.24), triglycerides ( r=-0.29, -0.13, -0.23), fasting insulin ( r=-0.28, -0.20, -0.29), and HOMA-IR ( r=-0.26, -0.18, -0.26) (all P<0.05), and positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( r=0.38, 0.13, 0.31, all P<0.01). After adjusting for sex and age, high relative skeletal muscle mass, high muscle-to-fat ratio, and high grip strength-to-body weight index all decreased the risks of metabolic syndrome ( OR=0.80, 0.55, 0.90), obesity ( OR=0.53, 0.64, 0.82), hypertension ( OR=0.86, 0.58, 0.92), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( OR=0.83, 0.62, 0.92), hypertriglyceridemia ( OR=0.88, 0.78, 0.96). After adjusting for sex and age, high relative skeletal muscle mass and high grip strength-to-body weight index all decreased the risks of hyperglycemia ( OR=0.93 and 0.95, all P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index all had good predictive accuracy of metabolic syndrome in children (AUC=0.79, 0.71, 0.76), with optimal cutoff values of 40%, 1.2, and 35%, respectively. Conclusions:High relative skeletal muscle mass, high muscle-to-fat ratio, and high grip strength-to-body weight index are all protective factors for metabolic syndrome in children. Regular measurement of skeletal muscle mass and grip strength can aid in the early identification and prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome during childhood .

Objective:To explore the correlation between skeletal muscle mass and strength with metabolic syndrome in children.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted involving 383 children aged 10 to 15 years who visited the Department of Child Health Care, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2021 to December 2022. Their height, weight, waist circumference, body composition, grip strength and blood pressure were measured. Relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index were calculated. The levels of fasting blood glucose, lipids and insulin were tested. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Children were divided into the metabolic syndrome group and the non-metabolic syndrome group. Independent t test or Mann-Whitney U test etc. was used to compare the difference between groups. Spearman correlation analysis and binary Logistic regression were used to investigate the correlation between skeletal muscle mass and strength and metabolic syndrome. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the accuracy of the index of skeletal muscle in predicting metabolic syndrome in children. Results:Among the 383 children, 282 (73.6%) were male, at the age of 11.4 (10.6, 12.5) years. There were 216 children (56.4%) diagnosed with obesity and 90 children (23.5%) diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index of the metabolic syndrome group were all lower than those in the non-metabolic syndrome group (all P<0.001). After adjusting for sex and age, relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index were all negatively correlated with body mass index ( r=-0.84, -0.38, -0.63), waist circumference ( r=-0.76, -0.36, -0.70), systolic blood pressure ( r=-0.42, -0.21, -0.38), diastolic blood pressure ( r=-0.33, -0.18, -0.24), triglycerides ( r=-0.29, -0.13, -0.23), fasting insulin ( r=-0.28, -0.20, -0.29), and HOMA-IR ( r=-0.26, -0.18, -0.26) (all P<0.05), and positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( r=0.38, 0.13, 0.31, all P<0.01). After adjusting for sex and age, high relative skeletal muscle mass, high muscle-to-fat ratio, and high grip strength-to-body weight index all decreased the risks of metabolic syndrome ( OR=0.80, 0.55, 0.90), obesity ( OR=0.53, 0.64, 0.82), hypertension ( OR=0.86, 0.58, 0.92), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( OR=0.83, 0.62, 0.92), hypertriglyceridemia ( OR=0.88, 0.78, 0.96). After adjusting for sex and age, high relative skeletal muscle mass and high grip strength-to-body weight index all decreased the risks of hyperglycemia ( OR=0.93 and 0.95, all P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the relative skeletal muscle mass, muscle-to-fat ratio, and grip strength-to-body weight index all had good predictive accuracy of metabolic syndrome in children (AUC=0.79, 0.71, 0.76), with optimal cutoff values of 40%, 1.2, and 35%, respectively. Conclusions:High relative skeletal muscle mass, high muscle-to-fat ratio, and high grip strength-to-body weight index are all protective factors for metabolic syndrome in children. Regular measurement of skeletal muscle mass and grip strength can aid in the early identification and prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome during childhood .

Objective:To establish the reference values and growth curves of skeletal muscle mass among children in the Nanjing area.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted with children who underwent physical examination at the Department of Child Health Care, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2020 January to 2022 September. Their height, weight, body fat mass and skeletal muscle mass were measured. Body mass index, percentage of body fat mass, percentage of skeletal muscle mass, relative skeletal muscle mass index and the ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat were calculated. The associations between skeletal muscle mass indices and physical measurements index were analyzed through the Spearman correlation test. The Mann-Kendall test was used to assess the trend for skeletal muscle mass. Generalized additive models for location, scale and shape were used to construct percentile reference values and growth curves of male and female skeletal muscle mass indices at different ages.Results:A total of 32 690 children aged 4-14 years were enrolled in this study, including 19 912 boys (60.91%). Skeletal muscle mass, percentage of skeletal muscle mass, relative skeletal muscle mass index and the ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat of boys and girls was 11.10 (8.40, 14.90) and 10.30 (7.90, 13.20) kg, 40.36% (37.01%, 43.13%) and 39.38% (36.43%, 41.88%), 6.70 (6.07, 7.52) and 6.33 (5.79, 7.00), 2.39 (1.46, 3.47) and 2.14 (1.45, 3.00) kg/m 2, respectively. Skeletal muscle mass of both boys and girls was all positively associated with weight ( r=0.97, 0.96), body mass index ( r=0.68, 0.63) and percentage of body fat mass ( r=0.40, 0.43) (all P<0.01). The reference values and growth curves showed that the percentage of skeletal muscle mass P50 ranged from 37.75%-44.61% in boys and from 36.22%-40.55% in girls. The relative skeletal muscle mass index P50 ranged from 5.80-9.68 kg/m 2 in boys and from 5.57-7.98 kg/m 2 in girls. The ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat P50 ranged from 1.86-2.67 in boys and from 1.29-2.41 in girls. There was an increasing trend with age for both boys and girls in the growth of skeletal muscle mass ( Z=4.20, 3.75, both Ptrend<0.01), and increased slightly before 9 years of age and then increased rapidly until 14 years of age in both boys and girls. Conclusions:The skeletal muscle mass indices change with age and gender during childhood. Percentile reference values for pediatric skeletal muscle mass indices can be used to evaluate the muscular growth and development in children in the Nanjing area.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of neck circumference on cardiometabolic risk in children.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study of natural sources. As the prediction cohort, clinical data were collected from 3 443 children aged 5-14 years who underwent physical examination in the Department of Child Healthcare, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from July 2021 to September 2022. As the validation cohort for external validation, clinical data were collected from 604 children aged 5-14 years who underwent physical examination in the Department of Child Healthcare, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from October 2022 to March 2023. Height, weight, neck circumference, waist circumference and body composition were measured in both groups, and body mass index, neck circumference to height ratio (NHtR), waist circumference to height ratio, body fat percentage and skeletal muscle percentage were calculated. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, blood lipid and uric acid and other cardiovascular and metabolic risk indicators were collected in both groups. The prediction cohort was further stratified into clustered and non-clustered groups based on the clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors (CCRF). Various variables between these 2 groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Pearson correlation and binary Logistic regression were conducted to investigate the correlations between neck circumference and cardiovascular metabolic risk factors. The accuracy of NHtR in predicting the CCRF was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC). The cutoff value was determined using the Youden index. The validation cohort was then divided into groups above and below the cutoff value, and the detection rate of CCRF between the 2 groups was compared using the χ2 test for validation .Results:In the prediction cohort of 3 443 children (2 316 boys and 1 127 girls), 1 395 (40.5%) children were overweight or obese, and 1 157 (33.6%) children had CCRF. Pearson correlation analysis revealed all significant positive correlations (all P<0.01) between neck circumference and systolic blood pressure ( r=0.47, 0.39), diastolic blood pressure ( r=0.27, 0.21), uric acid ( r=0.36, 0.30), and triglycerides ( r=0.20, 0.20) after adjusting for age in both males and females. Among both males and females, neck circumference both showed significant negative correlation (both P<0.01) with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( r=-0.27, -0.28), and no correlation with fasting glucose levels ( r=0.03, -0.03, both P>0.05). After adjusting for gender, age, and body fat percentage, increased body mass index, neck circumference, or waist circumference increased the risks of hypertension ( OR=1.23, 1.39, 1.07, all P<0.001), hyperuricemia ( OR=1.16, 1.23, 1.05, all P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia ( OR=1.08, 1.16, 1.02, all P<0.01), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( OR=1.10, 1.27, 1.03, all P<0.01), and the CCRF ( OR=1.51, 1.73, 1.15, all P<0.01). The areas under the ROC curves of NHtR in predicting CCRF was 0.73, with sensitivity and specificity at 0.66 and 0.71, respectively. The corresponding optimal cut-off value was 0.21. Validation with 604 children confirmed that the detection of CCRF in the NHtR≥0.21 group was 3.29 times (60.5% (112/185) vs. 18.7% (79/422), χ2=107.82, P<0.01) higher compared to the NHtR <0.21 group. Conclusions:Neck circumference is associated with cardiovascular metabolic risks such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperuricemia in children. When the NHtR is ≥0.21, there is an increased likelihood of CCRF.

Obesity is the main risk factor of cardiovascular diseases.As the indexes of obesity evaluation, body mass index(BMI) and waist circumference are the most common methods to predict metabolic risk of cardiovascular system.Recently, neck circumference, a reliable and low-cost parameter of anthropometry, could be considered as a new indicator to evaluate childhood obesity since it is closed correlation with children′s BMI and waist circumference.Moreover, studies had shown that the increase of neck circumference had strong correlation with cardiometabolic risk, such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycaemia and hyperuricemia.This indicates that it might be the index to predict metabolic risk of cardiovascular system.Understanding and illuminating the changes of neck circumference and its relationship with obesity and metabolic disorders would have significances for preventing and identifying metabolic risks of cardiovascular system in children and adolescents.

The long-circulating effect is revisited by simultaneous monitoring of the drug payloads and nanocarriers following intravenous administration of doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded methoxy polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone (mPEG-PCL) nanoparticles. Comparison of the kinetic profiles of both DOX and nanocarriers verifies the long-circulating effect, though of limited degree, as a result of pegylation. The nanocarrier profiles display fast clearance from the blood despite dense PEG decoration; DOX is cleared faster than the nanocarriers. The nanocarriers circulate longer than DOX in the blood, suggesting possible leakage of DOX from the nanocarriers. Hepatic accumulation is the highest among all organs and tissues investigated, which however is reversely proportionate to blood circulation time. Pegylation and reduction in particle size prove to extend circulation of drug nanocarriers in the blood with simultaneous decrease in uptake by various organs of the mononuclear phagocytic system. It is concluded that the long-circulating effect of mPEG-PCL nanoparticles is reconfirmed by monitoring of either DOX or the nanocarriers, but the faster clearance of DOX suggests possible leakage of a fraction of the payloads. The findings of this study are of potential translational significance in design of nanocarriers towards optimization of both therapeutic and toxic effects.

Objective:To explore the influence of characteristics of green space on blood pressure control.Methods:Hypertensive patients who were managed by community health centers for one year and aged 35 years old and above were selected as the study subjects in Shenzhen. Multi-stage random sampling method was applied to select a representative sample of 1 200 patients. A total of 1 116 valid questionnaires were collected, with a response rate of 93.0%. From November 2019 to January 2020, well-structured questionnaire, physical examination and laboratory biochemical test were applied for information collection among the 1 116 participants. Binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between characteristics of green space and blood pressure control.Results:The rate of blood pressure control was 67.8%. Results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting confounding factors, health supporting elements, such as fitness areas ( OR=1.678, 95% CI:1.231-2.288), collective exercise venues( OR=1.373, 95% CI:1.020-1.848), health knowledge promotion areas ( OR=1.416, 95% CI: 1.049-1.911) in green space, were significantly correlated with blood pressure control. Green space safetiness ( OR=1.010, 95% CI: 1.000-1.019), comfortableness ( OR=1.011, 95% CI: 1.001-1.021) and maintenance status ( OR=1.011, 95% CI: 1.001-1.021) also played a role. The rate of blood control among patients with exclusive green space was higher than that of patients without exclusive green space ( OR=1.333, 95% CI: 1.009-1.762). Conclusion:Health supporting elements, safety, comfort, maintenance of green space and exclusive green space play an important role in blood pressure controlling.

Objective:To observe the effects of lifestyle intervention on diet, physical activities and health outcomes in obese children and adolescents during one year of follow up.Methods:A total of 153 obese children and adolescents with body mass index more than 95th percentage of the same age and sex were recruited consecutively from June 2015 to June 2017 in our hospital whose parents had signed the informed consent forms. The children were followed-up once every three months and their diet and physical activities, anthropometric measurement and metabolic indicators were assessed on research scheme, which lasted for one year.Results:A total of 52 obese children completed four visits plan in 12 months (34.0%, one year group), 101 children (66.0%) dropped from 3 to 9 months (66.0%, less than one year group). The intake of total energy [(8 524.5±2 068.6)kJ vs (6 464.0±1 586.9)kJ, P<0.05], dietary protein [(75.5±20.7)g vs (64.2±16.8)g, P<0.05], fat [(79.0±18.8)g vs (60.3±14.2)g, P<0.05], carbohydrates [(257.1±83.6)g vs (188.9±63.8)g, P<0.05] decreased after one year intervention in one year group. Moreover, the numbers of physical activity of medium to high intensity increased in obese children (0 vs 32.7%, P<0.05). BMI-SDS [(3.15±0.85) vs (2.46±0.81), P<0.05], WHtR [(0.60±0.04) vs (0.56±0.06), P<0.05] and FM% [(39.9±5.4) vs (33.0±7.4), P<0.05] were reduced, while SMM% [(32.1±3.2) vs (36.0±4.3), P<0.05] increased significantly in one year group. The detection rate of insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were reduced in one year group at the end of follow up ( P<0.05). The decrease of body fat and the increase of skeletal muscle were more obvious in one-year follow up group( P<0.05). Conclusion:Children and adolescent have less energy intake, more physical activities, good clinical outcomes and less complications of obesity through lifestyle intervention and follow up for one year, so it is worthy of being promoted.

Objective:To study the clinical characteristics of growth development and metabolic disorders in obese children and adolescents with insulin resistance (IR).Methods:Normal weight or obese children and adolescents who hospitalized at the Department of Children′s Health Care of Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from September 2015 to April 2018 were recruited.Children′s height, body weight and waist circumference were measured, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and body mass index (BMI) were calculated.Puberty process was determined by Tanner stage.Blood glucose, blood lipid and insulin were measured in fasting state, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated based on fasting blood glucose and insulin levels.IR was considered when HOMA-IR was over 2.69.Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasound.Results:(1) A total of 691 subjects were included, including 183 cases with the age of (9.73±2.38) years in the normal weight group/normal group, and 508 cases with the age of (10.24±2.05) years old in the obese group.The rate of IR was higher in obese group than that in normal group (55.71% vs. 10.38%), and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.001). (2)HOMA-IR was positively correlated with age ( r=0.256, P<0.001), BMI ( r=0.426, P<0.001), waist circumference ( r=0.454, P<0.001), and WHtR ( r=0.321, P<0.001). After the adjustment for age, sex, and puberty stage, HOMA-IR was also positively correlated with BMI ( r=0.418, P<0.001), waist circumference ( r=0.419, P<0.001) and WHtR ( r=0.375, P<0.001). (3) During puberty, HOMA-IR in both of obese group and normal group was increased, and HOMA-IR in obese group was more particularly serious compared to normal group[TannerⅠ: 2.60(1.49, 3.94) vs.1.28(0.80, 1.90); Tanner Ⅱ: 3.07(1.75, 5.17) vs.1.80(1.16, 2.96); Tanner Ⅲ: 4.33(2.80, 6.57) vs.2.47(1.41, 3.68); Tanner Ⅳ-Ⅴ: 3.49(1.04, 5.78) vs.1.91(0.54, 2.60)], and the differences were all statistically significant(all P<0.05). (4)Compared with the obese objects without IR, obese children and adolescents with IR had higher systolic blood pressure[112(104, 124) mmHg vs.109(98, 121) mmHg, 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa], triglyceride level [1.27(0.95, 1.81) mmol/L vs.1.09(0.79, 1.61) mmol/L], fas-ting blood glucose level [4.80(4.46, 5.01) mmol/L vs.4.48(4.16, 4.76) mmol/L] and fasting insulin level [21.27(16.21, 28.56) mmol/L vs.7.62(4.43, 10.83) mmol/L], and the differences were all statistically significant(all P<0.05). IR was a risk factor for NAFLD in obese children( OR=1.536, 95% CI: 1.049-2.247, P<0.05). Conclusions:Serious and abdominal obesity in children and adolescents is a major risk factor for the development of IR.HOMA-IR of obese children and adolescents is particularly serious during puberty.The obese children with IR are more likely to have metabolic disorders in blood glucose, serum lipid and blood pressure, and have the risk of NAFLD development.

Breast milk is best nutrition source for infants. However,human breast feeding is ceased or changed as formula feeding during disease or disease treatment. Now,the important significance of breast feeding for infants with preterm,diarrhea,jaundice,allergy,genetic disease and congenital cleft palate are analyzed,and feeding program is pro-vided,which can help mothers continue breast feeding and let the infants get nutritional support and protection from breast feeding. By breast feeding,it may improve children rehabilitation growth and development.