Analysis of cardiac autonomic modulation in obese and eutrophic children

INTRODUCTION: Obesity causes alterations in cardiac autonomic function. However, there are scarce and conflicting data on this function with regard to heart rate variability in obese children. OBJECTIVE: To compare the autonomic function of obese and eutrophic children by analyzing heart rate variability. METHODS: One hundred twenty-one children (57 male and 64 female) aged 8 to 12 years were distributed into two groups based on nutritional status [obese (n = 56) and eutrophic (ideal weight range; n = 65) according to the body mass index reference for gender and age]. For the analysis of heart...