Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Jun 9, 2025; 14(2): 103442
Published online Jun 9, 2025. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v14.i2.103442
Visceral adiposity index and cardiorespiratory fitness: Unmasking risk of impaired fasting glucose among adolescents
Ravi Shah, Rimesh Pal, Juniali Hatwal, Akash Batta, Bishav Mohan
Ravi Shah, Rimesh Pal, Department of Endocrinology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Juniali Hatwal, Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Akash Batta, Bishav Mohan, Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India
Co-first authors: Ravi Shah and Rimesh Pal.
Author contributions: Shah R performed the literature review and data collection; Shah R and Pal R analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript and subsequently revised it, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Pal R and Batta A designed the article; Pal R, Hatwal J, Mohan B, and Batta A supervised the study and provided key feedback and suggestions; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Akash Batta, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Tagore Nagar, Civil Lines, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India. akashbatta02@gmail.com
Received: November 20, 2024
Revised: February 12, 2025
Accepted: February 27, 2025
Published online: June 9, 2025
Processing time: 119 Days and 1.9 Hours
Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing among adolescents, but paediatric risk predictors are relatively underdeveloped. This study aimed to establish the associations of visceral adiposity index (VAI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) with fasting plasma glucose in 418 Nigerian adolescents aged 11 years to 19 years. Using a cross-sectional design, participants were stratified by VAI and CRF tertiles to examine variations in impaired fasting glucose (IFG) risk. The findings of this study revealed significant gender differences: In the case of boys, high VAI and low CRF is associated with IFG, while no association was present in girls. CRF, measured by the 20-meter shuttle run, was a stronger predictor of IFG than VAI, suggesting that physical fitness is a protective factor against glucose dysregulation. These findings point to VAI and CRF as useful, non-invasive predictors of risk for T2DM in youth, supporting school-based fitness programs that promote CRF and attenuate visceral adiposity, particularly in males. Future work must validate these predictors across various ethnic populations and identify other risk factors that can augment plans for early interventions aimed at the prevention of adolescent T2DM.

Keywords: Impaired fasting glucose; Visceral adiposity index; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Adolescents; Diabetes mellitus; Public health

Core Tip: The increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus among adolescents is a significant global concern. The index study aimed to establish the associations of visceral adiposity index (VAI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) with fasting plasma glucose in Nigerian adolescents. In the case of boys, high VAI and low CRF is associated with impaired fasting glucose, while no association was present in girls. CRF, measured by the 20-meter shuttle run, was a stronger predictor of impaired fasting glucose than VAI, suggesting that physical fitness is a protective factor against glucose dysregulation. These findings point to VAI and CRF as useful, non-invasive predictors of risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in youth, supporting school-based fitness programs that promote CRF.