12 research outputs found
Association of waist circumference and body mass index with fasting blood insulin in severely obese children: A cross-sectional study
We tested whether body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are associated
with fasting insulin in severely obese children. A number of 391 (204 female and 187 male) obese
children were consecutively enrolled in the study at a Paediatric outpatient clinic. They were aged
10\ub13 yr (mean\ub1SD; range: 3-17 yr) and had a relative weight for age of 160\ub127% (mean\ub1SD). BMI
and WC explained respectively 9 and 13% of the variance of log-transformed (It) insulin (p<O.OOOI
for both). After correction for age, however, BMI lost its association with It-insulin (p=NS) and WC
explained only 3% (p<0.001) of It-insulin variance. Sex and pubertal status did not influence the relationship
between WC, BMI and It-insulin (p=NS, ANCOVA). We conclude that in severely obese
children: 1) WC is a marginaUy better predictor of fasting blood insulin than BMI, 2) age has a substantial
influence on the relationship between BMI, WC and insulin and, 3) the contribution of BMI
and WC to insulin is of doubtful clinical relevance because it leaves a substantial portion (~87%) of It-insulin variance unexplaine