ESPE Abstracts (2015) 84 P-3-1033

aOspedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy; bUniversita degli studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy; cKarolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden


Background: Low birth weight is associated with cardiometabolic risk in adulthood. To date, there is no evidence of a relationship between birth length and metabolic risk.

Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the relationship between birth size and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in obese children.

Method: 41 obese children were studied (23 females/18 males, 13.2±1.26 years). All patients underwent anthropometric, biochemical, hormonal evaluation and careful familial history. Body composition assessment was available in 30 subjects. MetS was defined according to The International Diabetes Federation criteria. Subjects were subdivided into two groups matched for age (±0.5 year), gender and BMI (±0.5), according to the presence of MetS (11 females/ nine males, 13.2±1.84 years) or not (12 femess/ nine males, 13.1±1.68 years).

Results: Patients with MetS were significantly shorter at birth than patients without MetS (−0.7±1.3 vs 1.13±2.39 S.D.s, P=0.032). Whereas no difference in birth weight, current height, body composition were found. Familial history for obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease was not significantly different in the two groups. Birth length was inversely related to waist circumference height ratio (r=−0.49, P=0.02) and BMI (r=−0.46, P=0.03). Birth weight was inversely related to triglycerides (r=−0.44, P<0.01) and triglyceride HDL cholesterol ratio (r=−0.44, P=0.005).

Conclusion: Our results suggest for the first time that birth length may be related to the risk of MetS in obese children independently of birth weight.

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