Résumé
Severe obesity is one of the fastest growing obesity categories in childhood [1], and has been related to vascular stiffness in central elastic arteries [2]. However, recent reports have shown a preserved arterial compliance in obese adolescents compared to their normal-weight counterparts [3–5], thus suggesting that the mechanisms relating obesity-associated risk factors to the development of arterial morbidity in the young remain to be established. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in central and peripheral arterial stiffness in severely obese adolescents (SOA) and normal-weight counterparts, and to assess the effect of a conventional weight loss program in SOA.