ESPE Abstracts

Background: Pediatric obesity has increased worldwide over the last decades, being diagnosed at ever-younger ages.

Objective and hypotheses: Evaluation of clinical and biological parameters and changes that occur in children with obesity; metabolic syndrome (MetS) identification in the studied groups; identification, evaluation, analysis and correlation of the adipogenic factors with the carotid intima media thickness (CIMT).

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 1 year (April 2014–April 2015). 68 obese patients with mean age 11.83 years were included, distributed as follows: 17 (25%) were aged between 5 and 9, 35 (51%) between 10–14 and 16 (24%) between 15 and 18. Blood pressure, lipids, glucose, leptin, adiponectin and high sensitive CRP were determined. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed in all children. Insulin resistance (IR) was assessed by HOMA. CIMT was measured in all patients.

Results: MetS was present in 18 patients (26.14%), with a higher prevalence among the 15–18 age group (11.76% vs 22.85% vs.50%). A strong correlation between CIMT and other metabolic factors has been observed (r=0.83). Lower levels of adiponectin, higher levels of leptin, high sensitive CRP and CIMT values have been observed in the 15–18 age group.

Conclusion: Metabolic risk increases with age. There is a correlation between CIMT and adiponectin, leptin, high sensitive- CRP. CIMT is a known marker for subclinical atherosclerosis, it is a cheap and noninvasive method. Extensive population studies are required to establish threshold values for CIMT in children.