Early Clinical Indicators of Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance in A Cohort of Greek Children with Obesity

Abstract

Background: Prevalence of childhood obesity in Greece is reported to be among the highest worldwide.Objective: To investigate whether anthropometric indices such as Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist to Height Ratio (WHtR) and Acanthosis nigricans can be useful early indicators of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and Insulin Resistance (IR) in Greek children affected by obesity. Furthermore, to estimate the prevalence of Mets in this population.Method: Data from 189 pre-pubertal children with overweight and obesity (45% boys) with mean age 9.8 ± 2.3 years were analyzed. Results: IR, as indicated by Homeostasis Model Assessment of InsulinResistance (HOMA-IR) of ≥ 3, was present in 33.3% of the children, while 12.7% of them met the criteria for Mets. The mean BMI was greater in children with IR (p < 0.001). Also, children with IR had greater Waist Circumference (WC) (p < 0.001). Acanthosis nigricans (p = 0.041) and increased fat percentage (p = 0.003) were associated with greater likelihood for IR. WHtR was associated with greater odds for IR (p = 0.048). Among children with MetS, 54.2% had IR and they were all affected by obesity. Increased WC was associated with the presence of MetS (p = 0.046), while for one unit increase in BMI the likelihood for MetS was found to increase about 14% (p = 0.001).Conclusions: Increased WC, BMI, WHtR and Acanthosis nigricans are early clinical indicators for increased metabolic risk.

Hypertriglyceridemic Waist Phenotype and Its Association with Metabolic Syndrome Components, among Greek Children with Excess Body Weight

“…Vlachopapadopoulou et al reported a high prevalence of MetS (12.7%) in a cohort of one hundred eighty-nine Greek pre-pubertal children with obesity. Moreover, increased WC, BMI, WHR and acanthosis nigricans were recognized as early clinical indicators for increased metabolic risk [ 44 ]. Papandreou et al investigated one hundred and twenty-five subjects with obesity, aged 11–12 years, for NAFLD risk.…”