Association of physical fitness with skin autofluorescence-derived advanced glycation end products in children

Background Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) accumulate with age and development of cardiovascular disease. Higher AGEs have been shown in children with diabetes but little is known about their association with lifestyle conditions in childhood. We hypothesized that BMI, blood pressure and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with subcutaneous AGEs formation in children. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 1075 children (aged 7.2 ± 0.4 years) were screened for subcutaneous AGEs (skin autofluorescence; SAF), body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and CRF using standardized procedures. Group comparisons were performed in clinical BP and BMI categories and tertiles of CRF. Results Children with higher physical fitness showed lower SAF (0.99(1.03;1.10)au) compared to children with low CRF (1.09(1.03;1.05)au, p