Biomedical Research

Obesity is the epidemic of the twenty first century. In India the incidence of obesity continues to increase and prevalence among adolescents varies between 10% and 30%.The prevalence of metabolic syndrome which is a group of atherosclerotic risk factors is rising at an alarming rate among young adults of urban India. Central obesity which represents the visceral adipose tissue depots is the most prevalent manifestation of metabolic syndrome. Adipose tissue , a dynamic endocrine organ secretes pro-inflammatory factors called adipokines which causes meta inflammation thereby contributing to insulin resistance. We have undertaken a pilot study with ninety healthy MBBS students aged between 17 and 22 years from our Institution. These ninety students were further divided into non-obese, group I (n=63 ) and obese , group II (n=27) based on their waist circumference. We estimated fasting blood sugar(FBS), post prandial blood sugar(PPBS),lipid profile and serum insulin in both the groups.Insulin resistance (IR) was calculated using the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) equation. In this study we found that 3.3% of the study population of ninety students and 11.1% of the obese group had metabolic syndrome. 70.4% of the obese group had insulin resistance(IR) suggesting a strong correlation between obesity and IR.The increasing prevalence of childhood and adolescent metabolic syndrome implies a future global health burden. So we emphasize the urgent need for focus on prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome in this age group through intensive health education and awareness programmes.

Author(s): SMR Usha, Chandrika N and H.V. Shetty, Reena R
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