PARENTAL OBESITY INFLUENCES THE EARLY ONSET OF OBESITY AND THE OVERWEIGHT DEGREE IN CHILDREN.

Objectives: Childhood obesity is known to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications in adulthood. In this cross-sectional, observational study authors investigated which variables may influence precocious onset and severity of overweight and which laboratory alterations were already proven at the first assessment in a population of overweight and obese children. Methods: We recruited 260 boys and girls(from 2 to 18 years),with simple overweight/obesity. Each patient underwent anamnestic avaluation, physical examination and fasting blood sampling for glucose, insulin and lipid profile. HOMA-IR, triglyceride-to-HDL-cholesterol ratio and atherogenic index of plasma were evaluated. Results: Family history for obesity and/or arterial hypertension and/or diabetes was related to a more severe degree of overweight among children(p=0.002). A more severe obesity was demonstrated in younger children (p<0.0005).HOMA-IR resulted higher among children with the most severe obesity(p=0.04), who were younger. BMI SD was a significant predictor of HOMA-IR>2.5 (OR 2.39; 95% CI 1.15 to 4.97;p=0.01). Conclusions: Family history of obesity and cardiometabolic disease must be considered a risk factor for precocious obesity onset in children. Insulin resistance is demonstrated even among the youngest. BMI SD is useful to stratify the severity of obesity in order to estimate the cardiometabolicrisk of each patient.