Insulin Resistance in Adolescence and the Related Factors: in 10th Grade High School Students in Seoul

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There are some studies concerning fasting insulin and insulin resistance in normal healthy Korean adults, but none exists especially for adolescence. Therefore, we investigateck insulin resistance and its related factors in adolescence. METHODS: We analyzed 582 10th grade high school students. Height, weight, abdominal circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, hemoglobin were measured. Fasting state and parent's and student's previous medical history were guestioned. We used Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) as an indicator of insulin resistance. RESULTS: By HOMA-IR 2.15, the subjects were divided into the insulin sensitive and the resistant groups. Two groups showed significant differences in body mass index, systolic diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, total cholesterol and abdominal circumference (P <0.05). HOMA-IR was strongly related to the body mass index (r=0.53) and abdominal circumference (r=0.52), but weakly related to the total cholesterol (r= 0.20). According to logistic regression analysis of HOMA-IR, the odds ratio of the body mass index was 1.17 and that of abdominal circumference was 1.06 (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: HOMA-IR showed strong relationship with body mass index, abdominal circumference, but showed weak relationship with total cholesterol. There was no significant correlation with the parent's diabetic medical history. Therefore we conclude that in adolescence the body mass index or the abdominal circumference is far more important factor than the parent's diabetic history.