Are metabolic syndrome antecedents in prepubertal children associated with being born idiopathic large for gestational age?

IntroductionBeing born large for gestational age (LGA) is a risk factor for development of metabolic syndrome (MS) in adolescents and adults. ObjectiveTo evaluate prepubertal children born idiopathic LGA to non-obese mothers without gestational diabetes or glucosuria with respect to the presence of MS antecedents. Patients and methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study to compare 40 (19F) LGA-born prepubertal children of a mean age of 6.12.5yr and 49 (25F) appropriate for gestational age (AGA)-born body mass index (BMI)-matched peers of a mean age of 5.41.8yr with respect to their anthropometric data, blood pressure measurements, fasting serum glucose and insulin levels, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and lipids and atherogenic index (AI) [triglyceride (TG)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)]. HOMA-IR>2.5 was used to define IR. HDL-C40mg/dL and TG110mg/dL were used to define dyslipidemia. Both groups were further divided into subgroups as obese and non-obese according to their BMI percentiles and the analyses were repeated. ResultsNon-obese LGA children had higher waist circumference (WC) standard deviation scores (SDSs) than BMI-matched AGA-born peers (p=0.024). There were no significant differences between pooled, obese and non-obese subgroups of LGA-born children and their AGA counterparts with respect to dyslipidemia and IR. AI was higher in non-obese LGA children than in AGA counterparts (p=0.028). ConclusionsNon-obese idiopathic LGA-born children have higher AIs than AGA-born counterparts in the absence of IR. WC seems to be a good clinical screening tool in identifying at risk of non-obese LGA children. Further studies are needed to evaluate MS antecedents in idiopathic LGA-born children.