title: [Lipid profile and hormonal study in the schoolchildren of the province of Alicante].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Childhood obesity has increased alarmingly in Europe and the USA, with a rise in the consequences of this epidemic, such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the lipid and hormonal profile of schoolchildren in the province of Alicante and to analyze the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the variables of interest in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a cross-sectional epidemiological study of a cohort of schoolchildren (6-11 years) from the province of Alicante (n = 394, 204 boys and 190 girls). Height and weight were measured. We measured the following analytic variables: total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), triglycerides, leptin, thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxin (T4), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), cortisol, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), testosterone and estradiol. Obesity was defined as a BMI > or = 2 SD, using the population curves in the longitudinal study of Zaragoza (Spain) as the reference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When studying lipid risk, we observed that 13.5% had cholesterol levels of > 200 mg/dl, 9.4% had triglyceride levels of > 100 mg/dl and 30.5% had LDL-c/HDL-c values of > 2.2. We found a correlation between BMI and plasmatic concentrations of triglycerides (r = 0.23), IGF-1 (r = 0.211), leptin (r = 0.583), androstenedione, DHEAS, testosterone and estradiol (r = 0.35, r = 0.27, r = 0.23 and r = 0.15, respectively). There was a negative correlation between BMI and HDL-c (r = -0.21) and cortisol (r = -0.09). There was no statistically significant correlation between the degree of obesity and concentrations of cholesterol (p = 0.434) and LDL-c (p = 0.452).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed a high prevalence of lipid disturbances in children under 11 years old in our population in relation to obesity.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Endocrinología Infantil. Servicio de Pediatría. Hospital General Universitario de Alicante. Alicante. España. LOREARUIZ@HOTMAIL.COM
authors.forename: Lorea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruiz Pérez
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zapico Alvarez-Cascos
authors.forename: Ainhoa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zubiaur Cantalapiedra
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alfayate Guerra
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Paya
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flores Serrano
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D012306:Risk; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones; D008055:Lipids