ESPE Abstracts

Purpose: In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on thyroid function in pediatric obese patients, but no nationwide study evaluating the relationship between thyroid function and obesity has yet been conducted in Korea. We aimed to evaluate thyroid dysfunction in obese Korean children.

Methods: We analyzed the association between obesity and thyroid hormone levels among 975 Korean boys and girls aged 10–18 years, who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI (2013 to 2015).

Results: Average serum thyrotropin (TSH) and serum free thyroxine (fT4) levels in the non-obese group were 2.7±0.1 μIU/mL and 1.3±0.0 ng/dL, and in the overweight group were 3.1±0.2 μIU/mL and 1.2±0.0 ng/dL. Serum TSH level was significantly higher in the abdominal obesity group than that in the normal group (P=0.023). FT4 levels were significantly lower in both the overweight and abdominal obesity groups than that in the normal group (P<0.001, P=0.014). Serum TSH levels were associated positively with abdominal obesity and levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride. Serum fT4 levels were negatively correlated with abdominal obesity (P=0.014).

Conclusion: Korean children with abdominal obesity showed increased TSH and decreased fT4 levels compared to normal children.