[Growth and body composition in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the growth and body composition of pre-pubertal diabetic children, and to check for influence of the age of diabetes onset and length, sex, insulin requirement and glycosylated hemoglobin.


METHODS
59 diabetic children (39 M; 29 F), age 1.2-11.5 years, and 67 controls (36 M; 31 F), age 1.2-11.7 years were included. Weight, height, body mass index (BMI), arm circumference, skin folds, fat mass and muscle areas were evaluated and transformed into standard deviation scores (SDS).


RESULTS
Among the diabetic children the mean height SDS was -0.13 (+/- 0.97) while in the control group it was 0.28 (+/- 0.86) (p= 0.013). The difference between the first and the current height SDS showed that the height SDS decreased significantly (p< 0.001) and multiple regression analysis indicated correlation with the duration of the disease. The mean arm fat SDS also revealed difference (p< 0.001). The means for weight, BMI, addition of 3 skinfolds and muscle mass did not demonstrate difference between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The diabetic children showed reduction of height SDS during the period studied and they were significantly shorter than the controls, even though their statures were within the population standards. The arm fat area also showed an increase in relation with the controls.
Paulino
Maria F V M
MF
Hospital de Clínicas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Rua Antonio Augusto de Almeida 182, 13084-755 Campinas, SP. rspaulino@hotmail.com
de Lemos-Marini
Sofia H V
SH
Guerra-Júnior
Gil
G
Minicucci
Walter José
WJ
Mendes
Carolina Taddeo
CT
Morcillo
André Moreno
AM
D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio