Effect of changes in fat distribution on the rates of change of insulin response in children.
OBJECTIVE
To develop mixed models for examining longitudinal associations between rates of change in visceral, subcutaneous abdominal, and total body fat with rates of change in fasting insulin (FI) and insulin sensitivity (SI) over 3 years in children.


METHODS
Seventy-seven children (mean age, 8.3 years at baseline) from Birmingham, Alabama, with three or more annual measures of FI and SI were included. Abdominal fat was measured by computed tomography, and total body fat and lean tissue mass were measured by DXA. Mixed models examined the longitudinal associations between the baseline level/rate of change of different fat compartments and the rate of change in FI or SI.


RESULTS
An annual increase of approximately 5% in FI was associated with 1 cm(2)/yr of visceral fat gain per year (p < 0.05), independent of subcutaneous abdominal fat. A 1-cm(2) difference in initial subcutaneous abdominal fat was associated with an approximately 0.2% increase per year in FI (p < 0.02), independent of visceral fat. None of the rates of change in any of the fat measures was associated with the rate of change of SI.


CONCLUSIONS
The rate of change in visceral fat was positively associated with the rate of change in FI, independent of increasing subcutaneous abdominal fat; however, subcutaneous abdominal fat may be more predictive of the rate of change of FI than visceral or total fat. Therefore, growth-related increases in abdominal fat, particularly subcutaneous abdominal fat, may contribute to accelerating increases in FI, but have no effect on SI.
Huang
Terry T-K
TT
Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Johnson
Maria S
MS
Gower
Barbara A
BA
Goran
Michael I
MI
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D044383:Black People; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011627:Puberty; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D044465:White People
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin