Background: Information about the prevalence of obesity in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) is inconsistent and limited. The burden of the concurrent problems of obesity and DM1 can have notable medical, psychological, and social implications for both patients and their families. Aims: To determine prevalences of overweight and obesity in children with DM1 compared to a control population. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we compared the prevalence of overweight/obesity in 390 children with DM1 (males 54%) and 565 controls (CONT; males 60%) aged 6 to 16 years. Overweight and obesity were defined as body mass indices between the 85 th and 95 th percentiles, and greater than the 95 th percentile for age, respectively. Results: Overall, 29.5% DM1 and 18.1% CONT (p <0.001) were either obese or overweight. The prevalence of obesity alone did not differ (DM1 5.4% vs CONT 8.2%), but a greater rate of overweight was seen in the DM1 group (DM 24.1% vs CONT 10.0%, ρ <0.001). RateS of overweight were higher in the DM1 than CONT across all age groups and in both genders (males: DM1 20.1% vs CONT 8.9%, ρ <0.001; females: DM1 28.7% vs CONT 11.5%, ρ <0.001). Only females showed an increase in overall overweight/obesity rate (DM1 34.8% vs CONT 16.4%, ρ <0.001) and this was most evident in older girls. Conclusions: Children with DM1 are more overweight, but not more obese, than their nondiabetic counterparts. Additional research is warranted to evaluate the characteristics of DM1 and its management that may influence weight gain.
KEY WORDStype 1 diabetes mellitus, obesity, overweight, body mass index, children
The relationship of Quetelet index (w/h2), or body mass index (BMI), with the sum of skinfolds at five sites, two skinfold-corrected limb girths, and two bone breadths were studied in a cross-sectional sample of 12,282 men and 6,593 women aged 20-70 years. The correlations of the BMI with skinfolds (0.50), bone breadths (0.51), and girths (0.58) were too low for individual prediction. Contingency tables of the BMI and sum of skinfold categories further indict its use for the purpose of assessing adiposity status or monitoring change in individuals.
The emergence of lightweight rowing as an international sport has made the optimization of physique within the weight restrictions a matter of primary importance in selection and training of the participants. The occasion of the Xth Pan American Games provided opportunity to obtain comprehensive anthropometric data on 20 male and 13 female lightweight rower finalists including most of the medal winners. Anthropometric characteristics, somatotype, and proportionality profiles showed the male rowers to be similar in most aspects to a student control sample, with the exception of short sitting height and large transverse chest breadth. The females, on the other hand, appeared to be very different from the control sample, having a number of characteristics similar to those of Olympic rowers. The female lightweight rowers also uniquely demonstrated two distinct physique prototypes.
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