ESPE Abstracts

Background: Adolescence represents a period of one’s life when profound mental and physiological adjustment take place marking the transition to adult life. Obesity is a common health issue amongst Greek adolescents often following an obese childhood.

Objective and hypotheses: We intended to assess the dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic profile of adolescents followed at the outpatient clinic of our hospital.

Methods: 253 adolescents aged 13.9±2.01 (mean±S.D.), followed in the outpatient clinic of our hospital were included. The BMI was calculated from weight and height measurements and was used to divide the adolescents into two group, obese and non-obese. Blood pressure, fasting insulin, glucose and lipid blood levels were measured. Estimates of insulin resistance homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) and the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), were derived from fasting measurements. All adolescents were given a standard questionnaire about dietary and lifestyle habits. For the statistical analysis we used SPSS 20.0 (IBM Corp.). Mann–Whitney and Spearman tests were applied.

Results: 94 adolescents were obese and 45 were also obese during their childhood. The reported consumption of snacks/fast food (P<0.03) and soda beverages (P<0.001) was higher among obese. Additionally all obese adolescents reported < 1 h of daily physical activity. A higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001 and P: 0.03 respectively), higher blood levels of fasting insulin (P<0.001) and lower HDL (P<0.05) were associated with obesity. Insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity indexes were associated with obesity (HOMA-IR, P<0.001, QUICKI P<0.001).

Conclusion: It is therefore necessary to screen for high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia among obese adolescents but it is equally important to try and make them adopt healthy dietary habits and increase their physical activity.