Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Waist circumference is a basic anthropometric parameter for diagnosing metabolic syndrome (MS) in children with obesity, but the values are age and gender dependent. The aim of the study was to investigate a new ultrasonographic parameter - the thickness of subcutaneous fat of the neck (SFN), which could also be associated with central obesity and MS.

METHODS: We examined 150 children aged 10 – 18 years, 120 children with BMI  97. percentil and 30 children with BMI 10 – 90. percentil (control group). Children with obesity (n = 120, 66 boys) were divided into two subgroups, with MS (n = 39) and without MS (n = 81). Thickness of SFN was measured ultrasonographically (usg) in the caudal part of the thyroid gland and compared with anthropometric and laboratory parameters of the metabolic syndrome.

RESULTS: Thickness of SFN thickness was thin in the control group of children (2.5 ± 0.4 mm), while the mean value in children with obesity was 7.2 ± 1.6 mm. Children with obesity and MS had significantly thicker SFN (7.7 ± 1.5 mm) than children with obesity without MS (6.9 ± 1.6 mm). In children with DM2 or prediabetes, the average value of SFN was high, 8.9 ± 0.9 mm. Thickness of SFN in our study did not correlate with age or gender. We found a strong positive correlation between thickness of SFN and body weight, BMI, BMI Z-score, waist circumference and diastolic BP in obese and MS patients. All children with obesity and MS had a thickness of SFN  6 mm.

CONCLUSION: In our work, the usg parameter thickness of SFN was significantly greater in children with obesity and MS, in contrast to the waist circumference, it did not show dependence on gender and age. Examination of this parameter is simple and non-invasive, it can inform about the risk of MS in a child with obesity (tab. 3, fig. 2, ref. 26). Text in PDF www.lekarskyobzor.sk.

KEY WORDS: obesity, metabolic syndrome, subcutaneous fat tissue of the neck, children.

Lek Obz 2022, 71 (6 – 7): 226-232

Dana ČERNOCHOVÁ 1,2, Miriam KURICOVÁ 1,2, Jarmila VOJTKOVÁ 1, Katarína MOTYKOVÁ 1, Peter BÁNOVČIN 1

1 Klinika detí a dorastu, Univerzitná nemocnica Martin, prednosta prof. MUDr. P. Bánovčin, CSc.
2 Detské oddelenie, Národný endokrinologický a diabetologický ústav, n. o., Ľubochňa, vedúca doc. MUDr. M. Kuricová, PhD

Cite:

ČERNOCHOVÁ D., KURICOVÁ M., VOJTKOVÁ J., MOTYKOVÁ K., BÁNOVČIN P.: Thickness of subcutaneous fat tissue of the neck in relationship with anthropometric and laboratory parameters of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. Lek Obz 2022, 71 (6 – 7): 226-232