Prevalence of different states of glucose intolerance in Sri Lankan children and adolescents with obesity and its relation to other comorbidities.

BACKGROUND South Asian adults have higher prevalence of obesity comorbidities than other ethnic groups. Whether this also is true for Sri Lankan children with obesity has rarely been investigated. OBJECTIVE To investigate prevalence of glucose intolerance and other comorbidities in Sri Lankan children with obesity and compare them with Swedish children. To identify risk factors associated with glucose intolerance. SUBJECTS 357 Sri Lankan children (185 boys), aged 7-17 years with BMI-SDS ≥ 2.0 from a cross-sectional school screening in Negombo. 167 subjects from this study population were matched for sex, BMI-SDS and age with 167 Swedish subjects from the ULSCO cohort for comparison. METHODS After a 12-hour overnight fast, blood samples were collected and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Body fat mass (FM) was assessed by bioelectrical impedance assay (BIA). Data regarding medical history and socioeconomic status were obtained from questionnaires. RESULTS Based on levels of fasting glucose (FG) and 2h-glucose (2h-G), Sri Lankan subjects were divided into five groups: normal glucose tolerance (NGT, 77.5%, n=276), isolated impaired fasting glucose according to ADA criteria (iso-IFG, 9.0%, n=32), isolated impaired glucose tolerance (iso-IGT, 8.4%, n=30), combined IFG+IGT (comb IFG+IGT, 3.1%, n=11) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM, 2.0%, n=7). FG, 2h-insulin (2h-I) and educational status of the father independently increased the Odds ratio to have elevated 2h-G. Sri Lankan subjects had higher percentage of body fat, but less abdominal fat than Swedish subjects. CONCLUSION High prevalence in Sri Lankan children with obesity shows that screening for glucose intolerance is important even if asymptomatic. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.