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Associations between adiposity and indicators of thyroid status in children and adolescents
Author(s) -
Krause A. J.,
Cines B.,
Pogrebniak E.,
SherafatKazemzadeh R.,
Demidowich A. P.,
Galescu O. A.,
Brady S. M.,
Reynolds J. C.,
Hubbard V. S.,
Yanovski J. A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
pediatric obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.226
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 2047-6310
pISSN - 2047-6302
DOI - 10.1111/ijpo.12112
Subject(s) - medicine , thyroid function , body mass index , obesity , leptin , endocrinology , percentile , thyroid , thyroid function tests , childhood obesity , hormone , thyroid stimulating hormone , overweight , statistics , mathematics
Summary Background In adults, obesity is associated with abnormalities of thyroid function; there are fewer studies in paediatric cohorts. Objectives To examine associations of weight and adiposity with indices of thyroid function and thyroid‐related metabolic factors in children. Design/Methods A sample of 1203 children without obesity (body mass index [BMI] < 95th percentile; N = 631) and with obesity (BMI ≥ 95th percentile; N = 572), age 5–18 years, had height and weight measured (to calculate BMI‐Z score for age and sex) and had blood collected in the morning for thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4) and leptin. A subset ( N = 829) also underwent measurement of fat mass by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry. Analyses examined associations of TSH and FT4 with adiposity and obesity‐related conditions accounting for sociodemographic factors. Results Thyroid‐stimulating hormone was positively related to BMIz and fat mass (both p ‐values < 0.001). FT4 was negatively related to BMIz and fat mass (both p ‐values < 0.001). TSH was positively correlated to leptin ( p = 0.001) even after accounting for fat mass. Conclusions Paediatric obesity is associated with higher TSH and lower FT4 concentrations and with a greater prevalence of abnormally high TSH. Leptin concentrations may in part explain obesity's effects on thyroid status, perhaps through leptin's effects on TSH secretion.