title: Identifying metabolic syndrome in African American children using fasting HOMA-IR in place of glucose.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing among young people. We compared the use of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) with the use of fasting blood glucose to identify MetS in African American children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from a sample of 105 children (45 boys, 60 girls) aged 9 to 13 years with body mass indexes at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex. Waist circumference, blood pressure, and fasting levels of blood glucose, insulin, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that HOMA-IR is a stronger indicator of MetS in children than blood glucose. Using HOMA-IR as 1 of the 5 components, we found a 38% prevalence of MetS in this sample of African American children and the proportion of false negatives decreased from 94% with blood glucose alone to 13% with HOMA-IR. The prevalence of MetS was higher in obese than overweight children and higher among girls than boys.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using HOMA-IR was preferred to fasting blood glucose because insulin resistance was more significantly interrelated with the other 4 MetS components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, 212 Morgan Hall, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3104, USA. sushma@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Sushma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Lustig
authors.forename: Sharon E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Fleming
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose