Anthropometric and Metabolic Parameters to Detect Insulin Resistance in Children

Abstract

Background: The pathological state of insulin resistance (IR) is closely related to obesity. Insulin sensitivity, therefore, could be permanently impacted by genetic disorders, steroids, or growth hormonal treatment. Objective: Measuring the specificity and sensitivity of several cutoff points in order to determine insulin resistance in pediatric community depending on anthropometric and metabolic characteristics. Methods: 107 children between the ages of seven to eleven years participated in this cross-sectional survey, of whom 53 had obesity, 22 had overweight, and 32 had adequate nutrition as determined by body mass index (BMI) for age. BMI, hip and waist circumference measurements, the conicity index, and the percent of body fat were all measured. Fasting samples of blood had been used to assess the levels of triglyceridemia, glycemia, and insulinemia. Using the 90 th percentage as the cutoff point, the glycemic homeostatic approach was used to assess insulin resistance. Results: For such entire sample, the values were: insulinemia = 0.97 (0.97-0.98), 18.5 μUmL -1 ; fat mass proportion = 0.86 (0.79-0.93), 41.1%; BMI = 0.88 (0.81-0.95), 23.67 kgm 2-1 ; waist circumference = 0.86 (0.77-0.94), 76.0 cm; glycemia = 0.69 (0.52-0.86), 86.0 mgdL -1 ; triglyceridemia = 0.76 (0.64-0.88). For the entire sample, triglyceridemia was 114.0 mg/dL -1 and conicity index was 0.67 (0.48-0.85), 1.21; for the obese subgroup, these values were insulinemia of 0.97 (0.96-0.98), 19.52 μUmL -1 , body fat percentage of 0.74 (0.62-0.87), 42.0%, BMI of 0.76 (0.62-0.90), 24.51 kg/m 2-1 , waist circumference of 0.75 (0.59-0.90). Conclusions: Utilizing the cutoff points with the optimal specificity and sensitivity for the prediction method, anthropometric and metabolic markers seem to have strong predictive potential for insulin resistance in children aged between seven to eleven years old.