Linear growth and weight gain in diabetic children--a cross-sectional and longitudinal evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine linear growth and weight gain in diabetic children and to assess the influence of the age at onset of diabetes on growth. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A retrospective longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the growth data of 61 children attending the diabetic clinic for the whole year of 1998 was completed.
RESULTS: The children were of average height and weight at onset with mean (SD) Height SDS = -0.095 (0.96) and mean (SD) body mass index (BMI) SDS = 0.58 (1.15). But amongst the subgroups, boys with onset before five years were found to be significantly taller (Height SDS = 0.39 (0.75), P<0.05) and heavier (BMI SDS = 1.28 (1.05), P<0.05). There was no significant change from onset to time at analysis either within individual subgroups or as a whole. Girls showed a gain in mean (SD) BMI SDS from 0.41 (1.14) to 1.03 (1.25), which however did not reach statistical significance (P=0.08). No similar tendency was observed in boys. There was no significant change in Height SDS for the 12 children who reached final height. Longitudinal follow up of growth data agreed with the observations from cross-sectional data.
CONCLUSION: Prepubertal linear growth was not affected even in those children diagnosed early in childhood. The 12 children who reached final height did not show any impairment of growth. Increased growth at onset was observed in the subgroup of boys with onset of diabetes before 5 years. The tendency towards excessive weight gain observed in diabetic girls needs further evaluation.