Original Articles
Adiposity in childhood predicts obesity and insulin resistance in young adulthood,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2001.112658Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether adiposity in children predicts adiposity, insulin resistance, and abnormal lipid levels in young adults. Study design: Children (n = 31) were recruited into an epidemiologic study at age 13.3 ± 0.3 years and had blood pressure, weight, and height measured. They were reevaluated at age 21.8 ± 0.3 years at which time the measurements were repeated, a euglycemic insulin clamp was performed, and fasting lipid levels were measured. All values are expressed as mean ± SEM. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and linear regression analysis. Results: Body mass index (BMI) in childhood (22.6 ± 0.6) was highly correlated with BMI in young adulthood (26.9 ± 0.9). Childhood BMI was also inversely correlated with young adult glucose utilization (r = –0.5, P = .006) and positively correlated with total cholesterol (r = 0.37, P = .05), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (r = 0.48, P = .01). Conclusions: These data confirm that adiposity in childhood is a strong predictor of young adult adiposity. In addition, these results demonstrate that cardiovascular risk in young adulthood is highly related to the degree of adiposity as early as age 13. (J Pediatr 2001;138:469-73)

Section snippets

Methods

This study was approved by the Committee for the Use of Human Subjects in Research at the University of Minnesota. Informed consent was obtained from participants and their parents when the subjects were age 13 and from the participants at the time of the insulin clamp studies.

The participants were recruited in the Sodium-Potassium Blood Pressure Trial in Children in 1985-198613 after blood pressure screening from 19,452 (93% of all enrolled) fifth to eighth-grade students in the Minneapolis

Results

The cohort consisted of 31 subjects (9 males and 22 females); two subjects were of mixed ethnic background, one was black, and 28 were white.

Age, blood pressure, and anthropometric measurements were not significantly different between this group of 31 subjects and the remaining 200 subjects of the initial cohort. Age, blood pressure, and body size measurements at baseline (age 13) and young adulthood (age 22) are listed in Table I.

. Clinical data (mean ± SEM) at mean ages 13 and 22 years (n = 31)

Empty Cell

Discussion

This study shows that BMI in childhood is strongly correlated with BMI in young adulthood and predicts insulin resistance. Although only 4 of the subjects had a BMI ≥27 kg/m2 at age 13, an additional 12 subjects had reached a BMI of 27 by age 22. Although more females (n = 8) than males (n = 4) became overweight by age 22, the total percentages of overweight males (5/9, 55%) and females (11/22, 50%) are similar. The explanation for a relatively large percentage of the cohort increasing their

References (21)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (197)

  • Obesity/Perinatal Origins of Obesity

    2020, Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Endocrinology: Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Management
  • Obesity/Perinatal Origins of Obesity

    2019, Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Endocrinology: Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Management
View all citing articles on Scopus

Supported by grants No. HL 34659, No. HL 04000, and No. M01 RR00400 from the National Institutes of Health.

☆☆

Reprint requests: Julia Steinberger, MD, Pediatric Cardiology, MMC 94, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware St, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

View full text