ESPE Abstracts

Background: Prevalence of obesity and its complications including type 2 diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance have been increased among children and adolescents during recent decades.

Objective and hypotheses: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance among overweight or obese children and adolescents.

Method: This cross sectional study was conducted in 199 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 16 years with BMI above the 85th percentile for their age and sex referred to the endocrine clinic of Qazvin children hospital during 2012. Physical examination including evaluation of weight, height, BMI was performed. Overweight was defined as a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles for children of the same age and sex; obese was defined as a BMI over the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Blood levels of fasting glucose and insulin were measured after an 8 h overnight fast. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed with 1.75 g/kg glucose for all the participants. Participants were characterized as having normal glucose metabolism, impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes according to American Diabetes Association criteria. Homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) more than three was used to estimate insulin resistance. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Mean age was 10.94±2.56. 17.6 and 82.4% of the participants were obese and overweight, respectively. Prevalence of impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes were found to be 15.6, 7.5 and 4%, respectively. 51.3% of the participants were insulin resistant.

Conclusion: High prevalence of insulin resistance indicates the future burden of diabetes and emphasizes the importance of prevention programs in overweight or obese children and adolescents from early age in order to promote their present and future health.