Insulin Sensitivity and Associated Risk Factors in Mexican Children and Adolescents

Abstract

There is an increasing amount of data showing that being overweight during childhood and adolescence is significantly associated with insulin resistance in young adulthood. Weight loss in obese youngsters results in a decrease in insulin concentration and improvement in insulin sensitivity (1). The objective of this study was to identify the principal risk factors associated with insulin sensitivity in a group of Mexican children and adolescents with a wide range of body weight. One hundred male and female children and youth subjects aged between 10 and 20 years, from different socioeconomic levels, provided general information about their health status as well as blood samples for a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (2) and basal and 2-h insulin and lipid determinations (triglycerides and HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol) (3,4). Insulin sensitivity was estimated by the insulin sensitivity index (ISI)0,120 method (5,6). Acanthosis nigricans (7) and blood pressure measurements were performed by a trained physician. Anthropometrical measurements included body weight, height, BMI, and waist circumference. Body composition and fat distribution were made by body density from air-displacement plethysmography measurements (8,9) and by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for abdominal fat …