ESPE Abstracts

Background: Lifestyle interventions show a long lasting weight reduction in only 10–20% of obese children and adolescents. Leptin as one major player within the central regulation of food intake and energy expenditure is most likely to mediate the endogenous drive for weight regain.Objective and hypotheses: To estimate weight regain after weight loss and the role of leptin in regain.Method: We included 153 obese children/adole...

Background: Neoplastic causes of precocious puberty include brain, gonadal, adrenal and germ cell tumors; hepatoblastoma (HB) is only rarely noted [1,2]. HB, is a rare primary hepatic tumor of childhood [3]. It is accompanied by raised levels of alpha-fetoprotein (α-FP). Rarely, beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) levels are elevated, resulting in peripheral precocious puberty (PPP).Clinical Case: We pre...

Background: Sclerostin is secreted by the osteocyte and inhibits bone formation by osteoblasts and is thus a negative regulator of bone formation. In adults, sclerostin levels increase after weight loss, which may be prevented by exercise training. The effect of weight loss on sclerostin in children is unknown.Objective and hypotheses: To compare sclerostin levels in children before and after a 10 weeks stay at a weight loss camp (WLC).<p class="abst...

Background: Although metabolically obese normal weight (MONW) adults are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), little is known regarding MONW children.Objective and hypotheses: To characterize lifestyle habits and insulin dynamics of MONW children.Method: Caucasian youth (n=630) aged 8–10 years, with at least one obese biological parent, were studied (QUALITY cohort). We defined MONW c...

Background: Weight disturbances in children are an important problem, both underweight and obesity having important health consequences. There is an ongoing debate about their cause, the risk factors involved and the need for public health policies focused on their prevention.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of weight disturbances in a cohort of school-aged children and to analyse some factors considered to p...

Background: We have recently reported a BMI-SDS increase in girls with Turner syndrome (TS) treated with growth hormone (GH) (1).Objective and hypothesis: We hypothesise that puberty induction in TS is associated with weight gain.Method: We analysed the weight changes (BMI-SDS) of 888 girls with TS in the Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS). Overweight was defined by a BMI >90th percentile and obesity by a BMI >97th...

Objective: Allostatic load (AL) refers to the physiological response that occurs in chronic stress burden, Excessive weight gain is an important source of physiological stress promoting chronic low-inflammation state detrimental for health. We estimated AL score among a pediatric population, in order to define a correlation between cumulative biological dysregulation and excess weight.Methods: We enrolled 164 children an...

Background: Antibiotics have direct effects on human gut, and infant’s intestinal microbiota is particularly vulnerable for perturbation. In mice it was shown that antibiotics increased body fat mass due to changes in composition of the intestinal microbial community. Therefore, antibiotic exposure during infancy could be associated with increase in body mass also in man.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate impact of antibiotic exposure, and its ti...

Background: Animal studies suggest a role of vitamin D in fetal lung development although not studied in preterm animals.Objective and hypotheses: We tested the hypothesis that vitamin D depletion does not aggravate respiratory insufficiency in preterm rat offspring. Furthermore, the effects of vitamin D depletion on growth and lung surfactant were investigated.Method: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned low vitamin D...

Background: It is well known that boys are heavier than girls at birth. Causes of this difference are thought to originate from the Y chromosome and as a result of androgen action. Although some studies showed that sex dimorphism in size at birth is dependent of fetal androgens, one study reported that it is not generated by action of androgens.Objective and hypotheses: To determine birth weight (BW) of children in different aetiologies of disorder of se...