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Towards a simple marker of hepato‐visceral adiposity and insulin resistance: The Z‐score change from weight‐at‐birth to BMI‐in‐childhood
Author(s) -
Zegher Francis,
Malpique Rita,
GarciaBeltran Cristina,
Ibáñez Lourdes
Publication year - 2019
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.12533
Subject(s) - medicine , insulin resistance , adrenarche , endocrinology , body mass index , cohort , birth weight , anthropometry , childhood obesity , insulin , pregnancy , hormone , overweight , biology , genetics
Summary Background Insulin resistance and hepato‐visceral (central) fat excess are thought to contribute to an earlier timing of adrenarche/pubarche and puberty/menarche; this earlier timing in turn relates often to a mismatch between prenatal and postnatal weight gain, which can be estimated by calculating the Z‐score change from birth weight (BW) to body mass index (BMI) in childhood. Methods We tested the hypothesis that this calculation may serve as a proxy of insulin resistance and hepato‐visceral adiposity in prepuberty by reappraising a cohort of children (mean age, 8.5 years), born appropriate‐ (AGA, n = 41) or small‐for‐gestational age (SGA, n = 45), followed since birth (n = 76) or since the age of 3 years (n = 10). Assessments included anthropometry; fasting glucose and insulin; liver volume; and hepatic fat, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat in the abdominal region (by magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]). Results Z‐score change BW‐BMI closely associated to central fat ( R = 0.74; P < .0001) and insulin resistance ( R = 0.71; P < .0001). Conclusion These results suggest that Z‐score change BW‐BMI could be viewed as a simple candidate‐marker for hepato‐visceral adiposity and insulin resistance in prepubertal children.