The association between a metabolically healthy overweight/obesity phenotype and markers of inflammation among Chinese children and adolescents aged 10-18 years

Objectives The association between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHO) and inflammatory markers remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence of different metabolic phenotypes and to examine the relationship of different metabolic phenotypes with inflammatory markers among Chinese children and adolescents. Methods The study included 1,125 children and adolescents aged 10-18 years using a cross-sectional survey, and all subjects were classified into four groups based on a combination of BMI and metabolic status. In addition, the inflammatory markers we measured were high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Results The prevalence of metabolically healthy with normal-weight (MHNW), MHO, metabolically unhealthy with normal-weight (MUNW), and metabolically unhealthy overweight/obesity (MUO) phenotypes was 38.76, 7.11, 38.67 and 15.47%, respectively. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that the MHO was associated with the z scores of hs-CRP in Chinese children and adolescents (OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.39-0.83). Meanwhile, multivariate adjusted regression analysis showed that the relationship between hs-CRP and MHO among the overweight/obese was consistent with the results above, but among the normal-weight, only the highest quartile of TNF-alpha could increase the risk of MUNW (OR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.09-2.52). Conclusions MHO phenotypes were not common in Chinese children and adolescents. Individuals with MHO had a more beneficial hs-CRP profile than those with MUO.