Background: Skeletal muscle as an essential body composition component plays an important role in maintenance of normal growth and development as well as systemic glucose metabolism in children. No nationwide reference data for skeletal muscle mass for Chinese youths are available in China. We aimed to establish the sex‐specific and age‐specific percentile reference values of skeletal muscle mass for Chinese children and adolescents.Methods: This study consisted of 10 818 children and adolescents aged 3–17 years in Chinese urban area during 2013–15. Dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry scan was performed to measure whole body muscle mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass. Lambda‐mu‐sigma method was used to obtain the sex‐specific and age‐specific percentile curves of muscle mass indices.Results: Overall, whole body muscle mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass indices showed an increasing trend with age for both sexes, with boys vs. girls having higher values of all muscle mass indices. Whole body muscle mass index in boys increased slightly before age 9 years and then increased rapidly until 15 years and slowed down thereafter, while the mean values in girls increased slightly before age 8 years, increased rapidly until 14 years and remained stable thereafter. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass index increased rapidly until age 16 years and then increased slightly for boys; by contrast, for girls, the mean values increased consistently before age 14 years but showed a slightly decreasing trend after that.Conclusions: This study established sex‐specific and age‐specific percentile reference values for skeletal muscle mass for Chinese children and adolescents aged 3–17 years. These reference values can be used to evaluate the muscular development in Chinese children and adolescents.

Inflammation and insulin resistance play crucial roles in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aim to examine the temporal relationship between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and insulin resistance in non-diabetic adults and their joint effect on the development of hyperglycemia. The longitudinal cohort from the Bogalusa Heart Study consisted of 509 non-diabetic adults (360 whites and 149 blacks, mean age = 42.8 years at follow-up) who had hsCRP, fasting glucose and insulin measured twice at baseline and follow-up over 6.8 years. Cross-lagged panel model was used to examine the temporal relationship between hsCRP and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Information on incident T2DM was collected in a survey in 6.1 years after the follow-up survey. After adjusting for race, sex, age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol drinking and follow-up years, the path coefficient from baseline hsCRP to follow-up HOMA-IR (β2 = 0.105, p = 0.009) was significant and greater than the path from baseline HOMA-IR to follow-up hsCRP (β1 = 0.005, p = 0.903), with p = 0.011 for the difference between β1 and β2. This one-directional path from baseline hsCRP to follow-up HOMA-IR was significant in the hyperglycemia group but not in the normoglycemia group. In addition, participants with high levels of baseline hsCRP and follow-up HOMA-IR had greater risks of T2DM (odds ratio, OR = 2.38, p = 0.035), pre-T2DM (OR = 2.27, p = 0.006) and hyperglycemia (OR = 2.18, p = 0.003) than those with low–low levels. These findings suggest that elevated hsCRP is associated with future insulin resistance in non-diabetic adults, and their joint effect is predictive of the development of T2DM.

Hyperuricaemia can lead to gout and is associated with an increased risk of cardiometabolic disease. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of hyperuricaemia and its related factors in Chinese chil...

Dyslipidemia, characterized by abnormal levels of total cholesterol (TC), non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), is a well-established risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.^1-3 Substantial evidence has shown that lipid disorders are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in youth,^4-6 suggesting that the process of atherosclerosis originates early in life. Childhood lipid disorders have been shown to persist or track into adulthood^7,8 and thus contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Current pediatric guidelines for cardiovascular health and risk reduction by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend universal lipid screening in childhood.⁹ Therefore, identification and intervention of dyslipidemia in early life may prevent and reduce future cardiovascular events.

Background: The temporal relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is not well established. This study aims to examine the temporal sequence between T2DM and LVH/cardiac geometry patterns in middle‐aged adults. Methods and Results: The longitudinal cohort consisted of 1000 adults (682 White individuals and 318 Black individuals; 41.1% men; mean age, 36.2 years at baseline) who had data on fasting glucose/T2DM, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and relative wall thickness collected twice at baseline and follow‐up over 9.4 years on average. The cross‐lagged path analysis model in 905 adults who did not take antidiabetic medications and the longitudinal prediction model in 1000 adults were used to examine the temporal relationships of glucose/T2DM with LVMI, LVH, relative wall thickness, and remodeling patterns. After adjustment for age, race, sex, smoking, alcohol drinking, body mass index, heart rate, hypertension, and follow‐up years, the path coefficient from baseline LVMI to follow‐up glucose was 0.088 ( P =0.005); the path from baseline glucose to follow‐up LVMI was −0.009 ( P =0.758). The 2 paths between glucose and relative wall thickness were not significant. The path analysis parameters did not differ significantly between race, sex, and follow‐up duration subgroups. Incidence of T2DM was higher in the baseline LVH group than in the normal LVMI group (24.8% versus 8.8%; P =0.017 for difference). Incidence of LVH and concentric LVH was higher in the baseline T2DM group than in the group without T2DM (50.0% versus 18.2% for LVH [ P =0.005 for difference]; 41.7% versus 12.6% for concentric LVH [ P =0.004 for difference]), with adjustment for covariates. Conclusions: This study suggests that the temporal relationship between T2DM and LVH is likely bidirectional. The path from LVMI/LVH to glucose/T2DM is stronger than the path from glucose/T2DM to LVMI/LVH.