Abstract

There is a global increase in the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity. Pediatric obesity is a strong predictor of adult obesity with its attendant health consequences, and there is now substantial evidence linking it with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in adulthood. This review aims to discuss the pathophysiologic mechanisms involved in the development of future CVD in pediatric obesity and the findings of some published longitudinal studies which reported the relationship between the two morbidities. The pathophysiologic pathways have been established, as both abnormal cardiac remodeling and abnormal vascular remodeling are the primary outcome events arising from the ‘adiposopathy’ of obesity. Increased left ventricular mass (↑LVM) and increased left atrial (↑LA) size are independent risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in adults. Premature atherosclerotic processes may result in adult cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), thrombo-embolism and hypertensive heart disease. Because of the complex interplay of cardiometabolic risk confounders during the life course, there is no consensus yet on the modulating factors for disease risk from childhood to adulthood and on the best methods of measurements in children for predicting adult CVD.

Keywords: Adiposopathy; Cardio metabolic syndrome; Abnormal cardiac remodeling; Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular diseases