The peculiarities of the heart rate regulation in boys and girls with different body composition, motor and eating behavior

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There are a lot of works devoted to the study of the main regularities of the heart rate (HR) control in individuals depending on the body weight. Still, there are some uncleared and even controversial issues that significantly influence the notion of this process itself. Particularly, impaired HR variability in patients with the cardiometabolic syndrome is characterized by the weakening of the impact of both parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. The works devoted to the heart rate variability features in young people associated with the body weight are scarce.AIM: To study the peculiarities of the heart rate variability in boys and girls with different body composition, motor and eating behavior.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, open, single-arm, non-randomized study of the HR variability in adolescents with different body fat mass (BFM) was carried out on the basis of the Center for Healthy Nutrition of Altai State University. The HR variability, nutritional status and physical activity index (PHAI) were studied in the groups of individuals with different body fat mass.RESULTS: We examined 168 people (85 boys and 83 girls). The surveyed belonged to the adolescent age period (boys from 17 to 21 years old, girls from 16 to 20 years old). The boys and girls examined by us had a different amount of BFM %. The HR variability, nutritional status and physical activity index were studied in 44 people with the low BFM, 71 people with the average BFM, 53 people with the increased BFM. In both sexes, the group with the increased BFM features an increase in the absolute (HF, ms2 ) and relative (HF%) oscillation power of the heart rate high-frequency component. The average value of the physical activity index in the group with the reduced BFM equals 1.52 ± 0.037 in boys, and 1.44 ± 0.099 in girls. The average value of the physical activity index in the group with the average BFM is 1.44 ± 0.029 and 1.42 ± 0.095 in boys and in girls respectively. The average value of the physical activity index in the group with the increased BFM is 1.23 (Q25–75 1.20–1.70) in boys, and 1.26 ± 0.33 in girls. The representatives of the group with the increased BFM have a higher caloric value (CV) of the daily intake. In young men, a higher CV was achieved due to increased consumption of fats and carbohydrates. In the girls of the third group, a higher CV of the daily intake was gained due to proteins, fats, carbohydrates.CONCLUSION: The results of the HR variability showed that the motor and eating behavior affect the state of the cardiac function in both boys and girls. An increase in the body fat mass in the individuals with a maximum CV of the daily intake and a minimum level of motor activity is associated with the prevalence of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system in the heart rate control.