Those little chubby kids can sometimes be sweet and huggable to look at, but study says, the circumference of the waist can help predict if the child suffers from metabolic syndrome (MS) or diseases.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) conducted the multi-center cross-sectional study on the 10,842 Indian children from the cities of Raipur, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Pune, and found out that 358 of children or about 3.3 percent were hypertensive.
"MS in children has been defined as the presence of high triglyceride levels in blood, Low HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), increased fasting blood glucose levels, high systolic blood pressure and waist circumference > 75th percentile," said Dr. Archana Dayal Arya, who is co-author of said study and a paediatric endocrinologist at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi.
With MS, there is an increased threat for children to get type 2 diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Dr. Arya expresses her shock to see as early as 6 year olds suffering diseases such as those mentioned earlier.
"We found that primary or essential hypertension, commonly seen in adults, is becoming common in children, who are obese or overweight. Therefore it is very essential for them to change their lifestyle and lose weight," says Dr. Anuradha Khadilkar, another author of the study, adding that children should be encouraged to partake in outdoor sports or physical activities as well as should minimize the intake of high-calorie foods and high-fat diet.
The IDF also reveals that physicians in India are making children as young as 13 years old fit gastric bands. It also claims that the young population in the said country prefers to take Western fast food than traditional cuisine.
Further, the IDF says diabetes is a growing concern in India, reaching endemic proportions in its children and adolescents from middle-class families. It says India is home to over 65.1 million of people with diabetes, as opposed to 50.8 million in 2010.
Dr. Arya also shares that the study was conducted in order to come up with waist circumference (WC) percentiles curves as well as to identify WC cutoff for Indian children, for proper identification of MS risks.
The IDF's definition of MS in kids includes WC as yardstick for the diagnosis. In terms of WC percentiles, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), USA made a proposition that the central obesity cutoff in children should be the 90th percentile, although preceding Indian studies recommended 75th percentile as empirical cutoff. Regardless, no study so far suggested a proposal for any biologically rational cutoff for the children.
The latest study, however, discovered that Indian children's probability for MS development was at 70th, which is considerably lower than the international cutoff proposed at 90th, says Dr. Khadilkar, also a consultant pediatrician at the Jehangir Hospital in Pune.
The study was accepted at the Journal of Paediatrics for publication in its upcoming issue.
