Insulin Resistance in Obese Children and Adolescents in Relation to Breastfeeding Duration

Background: Childhood obesity is unarguably a major public health challenge, which is associated with the incidence of many health problems like insulin resistance which is the main trigger of metabolic syndrome, that is characterized by many comorbidities like dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, steatosis and many cardiovascular problems. Breast milk is an essential way for supplying the needed nutrients for infants’ growth and development. The aim of this work was to assess insulin resistance in obese children and adolescents and to detect its relation to duration of breastfeeding.

Methods: This case controlled study was started at June 2018 till July 2020 and carried out on 120 children who were divided into 2 equal groups: Group (1) obese children. Group (2) healthy controls -of matched age and sex- that weren’t obese.

Results: Weight, body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure were significantly higher among obese children than healthy controls. There was no statistically significant difference between both groups regarding duration of breastfeeding. HOMA-IR was higher among obese children who received shorter duration of breastfeeding but without statistically significant difference. There was a significant positive correlation between HOMA-IR of obese children and both of fasting blood glucose and fasting serum insulin levels. While a significant negative correlation was observed between HOMA-IR and high density lipoproteins of obese children.

Conclusion: Obese children and adolescents had higher HOMA-IR indices than healthy controls which indicate their predisposition for having insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. HOMA-IR can be used as a useful tool for evaluation of metabolic syndrome risk in obese children as evidenced by the strong correlation between it and other components of metabolic syndrome. No significant relation was found between insulin resistance and breastfeeding duration in obese children and adolescents.