Abstract
Our previous studies showed that adult obese subjects, like patients with arteriosclerosis and cholelithiasis, has a decrease in α-lipoprotein and an incresae in β/α ratio of lipoprotein cholesterol, even if the total serum cholesterol level was in normal range.
In this study, analysis of serum lipoprotein patterns and the glucose tolerance test were performed in obese children. Obese children with body weight more than 20% above the ideal weight were approximately 6% of the school boys and girls examined.
There was no difference between obese children and the control (non-obese) in serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentration. However, in obese children, the concentration of α-lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly lower and β/α ratio was significantly higher than in the control. Electrophoresis of lipoproteins also showed a high frequency in obese children of a pattern similar to type IIa hyperlipoproteinemia.
Oral glucose tolerance test revealed that the glucose tolerance itself was in normal range in most of the obese children, but the half of them had marked hyperinsulinemia.
Data obtained in this study present an evidence that the obese children had abnormalities in glucose and lipid metabolism similar to obese adults. The importance of the prevention of obesity in young people must be stressed.
