BMI positively related to dyslipidemia risk in lactating women, BMI cutoffs recommended for prevention

Lianlong Yu from Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Jinan, China, and colleagues recommended that BMI be controlled below 24.85 kg/m2, considered the best cut-off point for dyslipidemia prevention.

Little is known about the association between BMI and lipid metabolism in lactating women, particularly in the Chinese population. Most postpartum women focus on maintaining a healthy weight after delivery, but there is no consensus on which BMI range is the minimal dyslipidemia risk. Previous literature has yet to use BMI thoroughly and efficiently as a convenient and potentially relevant index. Examining the relationship between dyslipidemia and BMI in lactating women is significant to women's health.

Against the above background, the research team explored the correlation between BMI and dyslipidemia and the BMI's optimal cut-off point to differentiate dyslipidemia risk in lactating women.

For this purpose, the researchers included 2295 lactating women subjects, all within two years postpartum. All samples were taken from the China Children and Lactating Mothers Nutritional Health Surveillance (2016–2017). Blood lipids, BMI, lifestyle habits, demographic information, and other serum indicators were obtained in the survey. The relationship between BMI, blood lipids, and dyslipidemia was evaluated.

The authors reported the following findings:

• BMI in lactating women positively corresponded with total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) but negatively correlated with high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C).
• Higher BMI in lactating women was linked with higher ORs of dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, high-LDL-cholesterolemia, low HDL-cholesterolemia).
• These associations were stable across age groups, parity, breastfeeding child age (months), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), physical activity level, and hemoglobin. These factors did not interact with this relationship.
• The optimal cut-off point for BMI was 24.85 kg/m2, which can distinguish the risk of dyslipidemia.

The findings revealed that BMI is positively correlated with TG, TC, and LDL-C but negatively correlated with HDL-C in lactating women. Higher BMI in lactating women was linked with a higher risk of hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia, hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia, and dyslipidemia.

The relationship between BMI and OR of dyslipidemia is linear, and a BMI of 24.85 kg/m2 was recommended to be the best cut-off point for dyslipidemia prevention in lactating women.

Reference:

Yu, L.; Xu, X.; Yu, W.; Chen, L.; Zhang, S.; Li, Y.; Tian, M.; Liu, C.; Luo, X.; Liu, Y. The Effect of BMI on Blood Lipids and Dyslipidemia in Lactating Women. Nutrients 2022, 14, 5174. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14235174