Background: Autonomic dysfunction is an emerging non-traditional cardiovascular risk factor that correlates with obesity, components of metabolic syndrome, as well as cardiorespiratory fitness. As a simple and validated index of autonomic balance, heart rate recovery (HRR) has been reported as a useful biomarker for predicting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare HRR in metabolically healthy vs. metabolically unhealthy obese children.
Methods: A total of 56 obese children of whom 31 had metabolic syndrome were examined. All the participants underwent the multistage submaximal cycle ergometer test and HRR was determined one minute after the test.
Results: The HRR was significantly lower (18.9 ± 3.7) in a group of metabolically unhealthy obese children compared to metabolically healthy obese children (24 ± 4.1) p < 0.001. Logistic regression analysis showed that reduction in HRR was also influenced by higher BMI.
Conclusion: Our findings implicate the presence of the autonomic dysfunction as reflected by impaired heart rate recovery (HRR) in obese children with metabolic syndrome.
Keywords: Heart rate recovery; metabolic syndrome; obese children.