Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Studies have shown that body mass index (BMI) thresholds for defining overweight and obesity among South Asian (SA) adults should be lower than those for White Caucasians (WC) due to increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Although children and adolescents of SA ethnicity are known to be at increased risk of insulin resistance and T2DM at lower BMI threshold, there are no guidelines to define adjusted overweight/obesity thresholds for SA children compared to WC children in UK based on equivalent insulin sensitivity markers (HOMA-IR, fasting glucose, HbA1c).

Aim: To evaluate ethnic differences in measures of insulin sensitivity amongst children and adolescents classed as overweight or obese of either SA or WC ethnicity and compare to BMI threshold.

Method: Data on 235 children and adolescents were analysed with their background weight parameters and their insulin sensitivity measures were analysed and compared using SPSS version 29.

Results: Summarised in tables below:

Comparing subgroups based on sex, SA were significantly insulin resistant at lower BMI compared to WC subgroups.

Conclusion: Our study reveals that obese and overweight children and adolescents of SA ethnicity had significant abnormality of insulin sensitivity markers at a lower BMI compared to WC. The results of our study highlights a need for larger multicentre study in UK to identify BMI threshold based on ethnicity to risk stratify those who need insulin sensitivity checks early and promptly to improve long-term outcomes.