
Andrew O. AgbajeUniversity of Eastern Finland Kuopio · Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition
Andrew O. Agbaje
MD, MPH, PhD FESC FAHA Cert. Clinical Research (Harvard)
About
86
Publications
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Introduction
Prof Agbaje is an award-winning physician and professor (asso.) of clinical epidemiology and child health investigating causal relationships of aerobic fitness, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, body composition, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, and metabolic syndrome with arterial, cardiac, liver, and kidney structure and function from childhood.
His research has received extensive press coverage, with over 2,000 media mentions in outlets such as CNN & BBC reaching 4.5 billion people.
Additional affiliations
April 2023 - present
Publications
Publications (86)
Background
Randomized controlled trials have reported no effect of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on reducing blood pressure (BP) in youth, probably due to short trial durations. This study examined the longitudinal effect of sedentary time (ST), light PA (LPA) and MVPA on BP in 11‐year‐old children followed up for 13 years to determ...
Background: Tobacco smoking in adolescence has been associated with increased risk of premature death in mid-forties. However, due to the scarcity of repeated measures of cardiac structure and function in a large cohort of children and adolescents, there is limited knowledge regarding the independent associations of initiating and progressive tobac...
Introduction
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an effective strategy for improving a variety of health and fitness outcomes within school settings. Incorporating HIIT into existing physical activity opportunities appears practically feasible, yet the process evaluation and effectiveness of this strategy needs to be further evaluated. There...
Background
Fat mass-insulin resistance vicious cycle has been established in the young population and late adolescence has been identified as the critical time when the pathologic cycle begins. However, the independent and synergistic effect of fat mass in the relationship of insulin resistance with cardiac structure remains unexamined in a large c...
Introduction
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an effective strategy for improving a variety of health and fitness outcomes within the school settings. Incorporating HIIT into existing physical activity opportunities appears practically feasible, yet the process evaluation and effectiveness of this strategy needs to be further evaluated. T...
Background
Childhood low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) has been associated with cardiovascular events in mid-adulthood. Recent evidence suggests that cumulative LDL-c may not contribute to sub-clinical atherosclerosis progression during growth from mid-adolescence through young adulthood. However, whether increasing LDL-c associate with p...
Background
The inverse relationships between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and subclinical atherosclerosis are well documented in the general population. However, recent studies among adults have reported paradoxical relationships in which high HDL-c levels were associated with cardiovascular morbidities and mortality.
Purpose
To in...
Evidence on the long-term relationship of sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) with liver steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and changes in liver enzymes in the paediatric population is limited. This study examined the associations of cumulative ST, LPA and MVPA from childhood with longitudinal changes...
Aims
Longitudinal evidence on the relationship of sedentary time (ST), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) with changes in cardiac structure and function in the paediatric population is scarce. This evidence is clinically important due to the impact ST can have on the long-term progno...
Environmental toxicants and pollutants are causes of adverse health consequences, including well-established associations between environmental exposures and cardiovascular diseases. Environmental degradation is widely prevalent and has a long latency period between exposure and health outcome, potentially placing a large number of individuals at r...
Aims
We examined the longitudinal associations of sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate‐to‐vigorous PA (MVPA) from childhood with carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness and carotid intima‐media thickness (cIMT).
Methods
We studied 1339 children, aged 11 years from Avon Longitudinal S...
Context
Recent evidence in 9-year-old children with overweight/obesity followed up for 7 years until late adolescence concluded that increased physical activity (PA) decreased the risk of high fasting glucose, low insulin sensitivity, and secretion. However, whether this effect persists until young adulthood is unknown.
Objective
This observationa...
Background
The absolute agreement of surrogate measures of adiposity with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)-measured body composition was examined.
Methods
Over a 15-year follow-up, 7237 (3667 females) nine-year-old children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) UK birth cohort were included. Total fat mass (FM) a...
This study examined the mediating effect of total body fat mass, lean mass, blood pressure (BP) and insulin resistance on the associations of sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid elasticity in 1574 ado...
Context
Surrogate measures of childhood and adolescent obesity have impaired the understanding of body composition's relationship with insulin resistance in the young population.
Objectives
We aim to examine the longitudinal associations of directly measured total fat mass, trunk fat mass, and lean mass with the risk of hyperglycaemia, hyperinsuli...
Context
Among children, evidence on long-term longitudinal associations of accelerometer-measured sedentary time, light physical activity (LPA), and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) with lipid indices are few. The mediating role of body composition and other metabolic indices in these associations remains unclear and whether poor movement behavior pr...
Globally, childhood obesity is on the rise and the effect of objectively measured movement behaviour on body composition remains unclear. Longitudinal and causal mediation relationships of accelerometer-based sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-m...
Background
High levels of triglyceride have been associated with poor cardiovascular health in adults. The relationships between triglyceride and early signs of vascular organ damage among adolescents and young adults are inconsistent. There is a scarcity of longitudinal evidence regarding the potentially deleterious effects of increased triglyceri...
Background
Health guidelines have recommended that children and adolescents engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of ≥60mins/day. However, there is no longitudinal evidence on the effect of ≥60mins/day of MVPA on cardiac health in the pediatric population.
Purpose
To investigate the longitudinal association of cumulative MVPA fro...
Background
Several studies have reported the beneficial effect of moderate to vigorous physical activity on metabolic indices in children and adolescents. However, longitudinal evidence is lacking on the effect of objectively measured light physical activity on cardiac health in the pediatric population. An increased ventricular mass has been assoc...
Background
Recent evidence suggests that childhood total cholesterol was associated with midlife cardiovascular mortality. Cumulative total cholesterol has been associated with subclinical atherosclerosis during growth from mid-adolescence through young adulthood. It remains unexamined whether total cholesterol independently associates with signs o...
Background
Non high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol from childhood has been associated with signs of cardiac damage and subclinical atherosclerosis in middle age adults. Cumulative non-HDL cholesterol has been associated with subclinical atherosclerosis during growth from mid-adolescence through young adulthood. Due to the scarcity of rep...
Background
Arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) progression have been associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in adulthood. Arterial stiffness is a strong risk factor for elevated blood pressure and hypertension, and insulin resistance in adolescents and young adults. It remains unclear whether cumulative sede...
Background
Arterial stiffness is a novel risk factor for elevated blood pressure and hypertension in adolescents and young adults. Arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) progression have been associated with cardiovascular events in adult. It remains unclear whether engaging in light physical activity may attenuate arterial st...
Introduction: Randomized controlled trials in the young population concluded that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was ineffective in lowering blood pressure (BP). The associations of cumulative sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA), and MVPA with BP from ages 11 - 24 years, the isotemporal substitution of ST with LPA or M...
Background
Questionnaire-based sedentary time and behaviour has been associated with worse cardiometabolic profiles such as adiposity, insulin resistance, and blood pressure, in the pediatric population. However, objectively measured sedentary time has not been consistently associated with poor cardiometabolic health. Till date, there is no evidenc...
Background and aims
The longitudinal relations of cardiac indices with the aorta and carotid vessel and the time sequence for early cardiac disease development are uncharacterized in youth. We examined the temporal longitudinal associations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) with left ventricul...
Context:
Inflammation has been associated with atherosclerosis and metabolic disorders in youth. Preventing inflammation through exposure to different accelerometer-based movement behaviours has not been longitudinally examined.
Objective:
To examine the mediating role of fat mass, lipids, and insulin resistance on the associations of cumulative...
The temporal associations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, with the risk of incident metabolic syndrome (MS) was examined in 3862 adolescents from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), aged 17.7 years with 7-year follow-up. cfPWV was assessed by Vicorder and MS was determined by th...
Background
This study examined the independent relationships of device‐based measured sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) in relation to cardiac structural and functional geometry among adolescents.
Methods
From the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, UK birth cohort, 530 (50% female) adolescents aged 17 years had complete...
There is limited understanding of the role of arterial stiffness in cardiovascular disease risk in the pediatric population, lagging behind strong evidence in the adult population. Arterial stiffness progression among adolescents with hypertension has been considered hypertension-mediated vascular damage. However, emerging pediatric reports suggest...
Objectives:
To examine the longitudinal course for the development of elevated blood pressure (BP)/hypertension and cardiac damage in adolescents.
Study design:
From the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, UK birth cohort, 1856 (1011 females) 17-year-olds were followed-up for 7 years. BP and echocardiography were assessed at ages 17...
Background:
This study generates new sex-specific left ventricular mass (LVM)-indexed-for-lean mass percentiles in healthy adolescence and young adulthood and correlated them with surrogates for normalizing body size.
Methods:
From the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, UK birth cohort, 868 adolescents (531 females) aged 17 years w...
In pediatric population with diabetes and obesity, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) has been associated with worsening vascular outcomes, however, the cumulative role of HOMA-IR, hyperglycemia, and hyperinsulinemia on repeatedly measured vascular outcomes in asymptomatic youth is unknown. We examined the longitudinal associations of fasting glucose, in...
We examined the temporal longitudinal associations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) with the risk of elevated resting heart rate (RHR) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). We studied 3862 adolescents, aged 17.7 years, followed-up for 7 years, from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents...
The Editorial of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology published the list of reviewers for the year 2022.
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Background and aims
We aimed to examine the longitudinal associations of total cholesterol (TC), non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non–HDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT)...
Introduction: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a marker of cardiovascular events and is driven by ventriculo-vascular interactions with stiffening arteries. But longitudinal relations of left ventricle with aorta is uncharacterized in youth.
Hypothesis: Aortic stiffening, measured as change in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), and a...
We examined the longitudinal associations of fat mass, lean mass, and blood pressure (BP) from childhood through young adulthood with changes in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). We included 3863 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Childr...
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Background
Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) progression was recently established as a predictor of cardiovascular events among adults. To date, a single cIMT measure has largely been used as a marker of preclinical atherosclerotic changes in the young population and dyslipidaemia has been associated with single measured cIMT. The longitudinal...
Background
Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) progression strongly predicts cardiovascular events among adults. We recently reported that cumulative dyslipidaemia was longitudinally associated with cIMT progression among adolescents and young adults. It is of clinical and public health significance to identify the most sensitive or crucial timin...
Background
The causal role of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in the evolution of preclinical cardiovascular disease remains unclear. A previous longitudinal study concluded that hsCRP measured in childhood was not associated with a single measure of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) assessed at mid-adulthood. The use of hsCRP sampl...
Background
Arterial stiffness, a precursor of arteriosclerosis, measured using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in adults. Emerging evidence among adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults suggest that arterial stiffness may predict the risk of hypertension, obesity,...
Background
Arterial stiffness assessed with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) strongly predicts the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent temporal causal evidence suggests that cfPWV progression may precede the development of cardiometabolic diseases in adolescence, young adults, and middle-aged adults. However, the longi...
Background
In a recent meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials conducted among adults, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) progression was established as a predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, due to the paucity of hard outcomes among adolescents and young adults, a single cIMT measure has largely been used as a marke...
Background
Emerging evidence among adolescents suggests that arterial stiffness temporally precedes elevated blood pressure/hypertension in the casual pathway. It remains unknown whether insulin resistance and body composition mediate this relationship. Therefore, we examined the mediating role of total fat mass, lean mass, and insulin resistance i...
Arterial stiffness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and old adults. Arterial stiffness has been limited to being an intermediate marker of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events in adolescents and young adult studies. The paucity of normative longitudinal data and repeated gold-standard assessment...
Introduction: Elevated resting heart rate in adults is an established risk factor in the lifelong process of atherogenesis and its intermediate process such as arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. However, it is unclear whether resting heart rate temporally and bi-directionally associates with...
Introduction: Elevated resting heart rate in adults is an established risk factor in the lifelong process of atherogenesis and its intermediate process such as arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. However, it is unclear whether resting heart rate temporally and bi-directionally associates with...
Background:
We investigated the temporal causal longitudinal associations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) progression with the risk of dysglycemia, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia.
Methods:
We included 3862, 17.7-year-old, participants from the Avon L...
Physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) in the form of recreational screen time, and sleep time (ST), are associated with cardiometabolic disease risk in adolescents. The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for children and youth has emphasised the integration of these three movement behaviours rather than in isolation (PA ≥60 min/day, SB...
We examined the temporal longitudinal associations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) with the risk of overweight/obesity and elevated blood pressure (BP)/hypertension. We studied 3862 adolescents aged 17.7 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and C...
Introduction: An American Heart Association’s statement recommended investigating the natural history of arterial stiffness and blood pressure (BP) vis-à-vis the rate at which arterial stiffness and BP increase with age.
Hypothesis: To test whether carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-med...
Introduction: Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) are strong predictors of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in adults. However, due to the unavailability of hard outcomes among adolescents and young adults, it remains unclear how cfPWV and cIMT predict metabol...
Background
The American Heart Association's scientific statement on the importance of arterial stiffness recommended that future studies investigate whether increasing arterial stiffness with advancing age results from the age-associated increase in systolic blood pressure (BP). The statement also recommended investigating the natural history of ar...
Background
A temporal association where better arterial function and structure predicts adiponectin level and skeletal muscle mass during childhood remains uninvestigated.
Methods
We studied 5566 children and adolescents (51% girls) aged 9-11 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort, Bristol, UK. Brachia...
Purpose:
To determine whether estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM) and adiponectin bi-directionally associate with arterial function and structure and if CRF mediates the relationship between cardiometabolic health and arterial outcomes in 9-11-year-old children using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and C...
PURPOSE: To determine whether pre-clinical signs of atherosclerosis such as endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness associates with cardiorespiratory fitness and fat mass.
METHODS: We studied 5566 children and adolescents (51% girls) aged 9-11 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort, Bristol, UK....
Introduction: Evidence on the associations of fat mass and lean mass with changes in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), markers of pre-clinical atherosclerosis, from adolescence through young adulthood is lacking. Previous studies have reported strong associations of body mass index (BMI), a measu...
Background: Several school-based PA interventions have been conducted to improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) but the results remain controversial or equivocal. Moreover, sub-optimal or varied methods in quantifying CRF and accounting for body size and composition have limited the comparison of the intervention effects. We evaluated the effects...
Purpose: To investigate the associations of directly measured peak oxygen uptake ( formula presented ) and body fat percentage (BF%) with arterial stiffness and arterial dilatation capacity in children. Methods: Findings are based on 329 children (177 boys and 152 girls) aged 8-11 years. formula presented was assessed by a maximal cardiopulmonary e...
We aimed to develop cut‐points for directly measured peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) to identify boys and girls at increased cardiometabolic risk using different scaling methods to control for body size and composition. Altogether 352 children (186 boys, 166 girls) aged 9–11 years were included in the analyses. We measured V̇O2peak directly during a...