Could Handgrip Strength Help Identify Children at Cardiovascular Risk?

By Ana Espino | Published on June 02, 2026 | 4 min read


Abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, and insulin resistance are appearing increasingly early in life. These cardiometabolic risk factors, once considered primarily adult health concerns, now affect a growing proportion of children and adolescents. Early detection is essential to help prevent the future development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Although healthcare professionals have various tools to assess these risks, most require laboratory testing or complex clinical measurements that can be difficult to implement on a large scale. In recent years, muscular fitness has attracted growing attention as a potential indicator of health. Among the available tests, handgrip strength, measured using a dynamometer, offers several advantages: it is quick, inexpensive, and non-invasive.