Obesity, Hypertension and Insulin Resistance in Childhood - A Pilot Study

Abstract

Key words: Obesity in children/Insulin resistance/Hypertension in children/HOMA/QUICKIBackground. Obesity and arterial hypertension are a serious risk factor for insulin resistance patients leading to diabetes and other disorders. Obesity is one of the most common nutritional problems in developed countries. Actually the incidence of obesity is increasing considerably, obesity is emerging in alarming rates between the last 10 years. Obesity and hypertension beginning in childhood often precedes the hyperinsulinemic state. The metabolic syndrome is rapidly increasing in prevalence with rising childhood obesity and sedentary lifestyles worldwide. The aim of this study was to compare average levels of the homeostatic indices HOMA and QUICKI in obese children compared to healthy and hypertonic children in order to find convenient markers for insulin sensitivity in clinical pediatric practice.Methods. 49 obese children (11 girls, 38 boys), 42 children healthy (33 boys and 9 girls) and 37 hypertensive children (4 girls, 33 boys) were selected.Results. The average level of HOMA in obese children was 4.58; in healthy children 1.8 and in the group of hypertonic children the level was 2.75. The average level of QUICKI in obese children was 0.22; in healthy children 0.29 and in hypertonic children 0.28.Conclusions. The results demonstrate the possibility of insulin sensitivity assessment using these indices in pediatric practice. QUICKI has a narrower confidence interval and thus a lower variability. QUICKI an HOMA indexes are useful predominantly for epidemiological purposes, mainly for maping the scope of insulinoresistance among children.gest that the prevalence of elevated blood pressure could have increased in children over the last few decades. Obesity itself needs not always mean overweight but an accumulation of fatty tissue. In childhood, it is obvious that the continuous increase in weight is not merely caused by the increase of fat tissue but also by the development of the body frame and the muscle mass. The share of this component differs according to the individual age group and gender.Obesity. One of the most common nutritional disorder worldwide, affecting virtually both developed and developing countries of all socio-economic groups, irrespective of age, sex or ethnicity, clearly associated with the metabolic syndrome, condition with implications for the development of many chronic diseases as obesity and hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnoe, and orthopedic problems. In the Czech Republic, childhood obesity is now a serious epidemiological problem: 20% of children aged 6-12 and 11% of children aged 13-17 years are already overweight or obese. These data were provided by the study of the Czech Obesity Association entitled "Life Style and INTRODUCTION

Associations between a common variant near the MC4R gene and serum triglyceride levels in an obese pediatric cohort

“…We also observed the presence of BE in almost half of the sample. Theses frequencies are in agreement with previous studies [14] and highlight the magnitude of harmfulness associated with obesity in youth.…”

“…One-third of the cohort (n = 173, 33.4 %) was classified as prepubertal, and two-thirds (n = 345, 66.6 %) as pubertal. The median BE scale was 16 [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], whereas 45.5 % of the cohort was classified with BE. The median insulin level was 20.9 lU/mL (14.7-31.8), and median HOMA-IR was 4.1 (2.8-6.5).…”

Prevalence of sustained hypertension and obesity among urban and rural adolescents: a school-based, cross-sectional study in North India

“…Previous studies have reported varying prevalence of hypertension in children ranging from <1% to 16.2% and the prevalence of obesity ranging from 12% to 19%, which may be due to varying age groups selected for the study and the different criteria adopted for defining hypertension and obesity 3–9. In addition, dietary and cultural factors and significant variation in the prevalence of point and sustained hypertension could influence the varying prevalence of high BP 10–14.…”

Effect of Yoga Exercise on Metabolic and Homeostatic Parameters of Insulin Resistance

“…Simple fasting methods to measure insulin resistance, such as the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUIC-KI) methods, have been widely promoted for studies, because of the possibility of evaluating insulin sensitivity from the levels of glycaemia and insulinaemia with the help of the homeostatic indices HOMA-IR and QUICKI which is for use in general practice (17,18). The significant difference in the glycaemia level (p= 0.017164), insulinemia (p<10 -6 ) and homeostatic indices calculated based on these values HOMA-IR (p<10 -6 ) and QUICKI (p<10 -6 ) may be seen very positively as they indicate the protective effect of yoga exercise against the development of insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.…”