ABSTRACT
AIM: Our purpose was to evaluate Insulin Resistance (IR) and its association with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among 161 (6- to 10-year-old) schoolchildren. METHODS: This two-stage cross-sectional study evaluated: BMI, blood pressure, personal history (birth weight) and family history of CVDs. Children with at least one of the following criteria participated in the second stage: obesity, personal or family history. Insulin resistance was determined using Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA). RESULTS: The HOMA distribution in terciles showed mean values for the first, second and third tercile of 0.41, 0.79 and 2.11 respectively. The HOMA distribution in the third tercile demonstrated statistically significant associations with overweight/obesity (p = 0.007), hypertension (p = 0.008) and low HDL (p = 0.02). Analysis of mean birth weight in each tercile and between terciles did not present any positive correlation (p = 0.213). CONCLUSION: Higher levels of HOMA (IR) were positively associated with risk factors for CVD among schoolchildren.
