Cardiac Assessment of Obese and Overweight Children Attending Asyut University Children Hospital

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate in both developing and developed countries .the relation between obesity and cardiac structure and function in children is less well documented and conflicting results have been reported .In addition, obesity is associated with a heterogeneity of metabolic abnormalities , (e.g., dyslipidemia , insulin resistance hyperglycaemia and hypertension , that may provide a plausible biologic link between obesity and the increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality .The clustering of these risk factors for cardiovascular disease is referred to as the "metabolic syndrome." Although the concept and definition of the metabolic syndrome are controversial at the moment, there is no doubt that a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors is present in obese children and adolescents and that their presence increases with worsening obesity .children are likely to be the ideal candidates for providing insight into the myocardial changes related to obesity because they are suggested to be free of other cardiovascular risk factors indifferent echocardiographic studies .