OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between insulin and the metabolic profile and eventual weight loss in obese children. DESIGN: We first attempted to define the metabolic profile for 18 obese children; we then studied weight loss in this group longitudinally. SETTING: Department of Pediatrics in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen randomly selected, young, obese male subjects from 5 to 16 years of age. INTERVENTIONS: (1) Metabolic screening at the outset, including insulinemia and glycemia after the oral glucose tolerance test and plasma levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides, and (2) weight loss treatment. RESULTS: We divided the sample into "normoinsulinemic" and "hyperinsulinemic" groups, similar for all the variables tested except for weight loss and plasma triglyceride levels. A direct relationship between weight loss results and duration of treatment was found for the entire group. The "hyperinsulinemic" group had a lower percentage reduction in excess weight, and the results in this group were not dependent on the duration of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The effort to keep "normoinsulinemic" obese children in treatment may be useful; it is advisable to study "hyperinsulinemic" children more in depth.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between insulin and the metabolic profile and eventual weight loss in obesechildren. DESIGN: We first attempted to define the metabolic profile for 18 obesechildren; we then studied weight loss in this group longitudinally. SETTING: Department of Pediatrics in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen randomly selected, young, obese male subjects from 5 to 16 years of age. INTERVENTIONS: (1) Metabolic screening at the outset, including insulinemia and glycemia after the oral glucose tolerance test and plasma levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides, and (2) weight loss treatment. RESULTS: We divided the sample into "normoinsulinemic" and "hyperinsulinemic" groups, similar for all the variables tested except for weight loss and plasma triglyceride levels. A direct relationship between weight loss results and duration of treatment was found for the entire group. The "hyperinsulinemic" group had a lower percentage reduction in excess weight, and the results in this group were not dependent on the duration of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The effort to keep "normoinsulinemic" obesechildren in treatment may be useful; it is advisable to study "hyperinsulinemic" children more in depth.
Authors: P A Velasquez-Mieyer; P A Cowan; K L Arheart; C K Buffington; K A Spencer; B E Connelly; G W Cowan; R H Lustig Journal: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord Date: 2003-02