Insulin resistance in Brazilian adolescent girls: Association with overweight and metabolic disorders

Alvarez, Marlene Merino; Vieira, Ana Carolina Reiff e; Moura, Aníbal Sanches; da Veiga, Gloria Valeria

doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2006.03.018

« Previous Next »Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice
Volume 74, Issue 2 , Pages 183-188, November 2006

Insulin resistance in Brazilian adolescent girls: Association with overweight and metabolic disorders

Marlene Merino Alvarez
- Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Nutrição-CCS, Bloco J 2 andar, Av. Brigadeiro Trompowisky, s/n Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Antonio Pedro Hospital, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 21 2562 6595; fax: +55 21 2280 8343.
Ana Carolina Reiff e Vieira
- Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Nutrição-CCS, Bloco J 2 andar, Av. Brigadeiro Trompowisky, s/n Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Aníbal Sanches Moura
- Department of Physiology, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Laboratório de Fisiologia da Nutrição e do Desenvolvimento, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Gloria Valeria da Veiga
- Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Nutrição-CCS, Bloco J 2 andar, Av. Brigadeiro Trompowisky, s/n Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Received 9 October 2005; accepted 16 March 2006. published online 18 April 2006.

Abstract

We assessed the association between insulin resistance, overweight and metabolic disorders in a probabilistic sample of 388, 12–19-year-old girls from public schools in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Insulin resistance was determined using Homeostatic Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). Overweight and obesity were defined by the sex- and age-specific body mass index cut-offs recommended by the International Obesity Task Force. Metabolic syndrome (MS) was identified by the presence of at least three of the following factors: fasting glucose ≥100mg/dL, triglycerides >130mg/dL, LDL-C ≥110mg/dL, HDL-C <35mg/dL and overweight. The combined prevalence of obesity (2.9%) and overweight was 14.2%. The average HOMA-IR level was 2.24 (95% confidence interval=1.40–3.10) in the overweight group and 1.91 (95% CI=1.32–2.50) in the non-overweight one, and MS prevalence was 20 times higher in the first group (21.4 and 0.1%). MS prevalence in the overweight group was 6.3 times higher in adolescents above the 66th percentile of HOMA-IR (55.9%) than those under the 33rd percentile (8.9%). Brazilian overweight girls with higher insulin resistance had high risk of developing MS. Therefore, prevention should occur at an early age to impair the evolution of this process.