School children aged 6-8 years with overweight have cardiometabolic derangements, according to a study published in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice to coincide with the Congress on Obesity. Jens-Christian Holm, MD, PhD, and colleagues conducted a prospective populationbased study of 335 preschool children aged 2.5-5 and 657 school children aged 6-8 to examine the early detection of overweight, including obesity, and related cardiometabolic complications. A subset of 392 children participated in hospital-based examinations and were re-examined about 1 year later. The prevalence rates of overweight were 13.73% and 13.69% in preschool and school children, respectively, at baseline. Minor differences were seen in cardiometabolic risk factors in preschool children with and without overweight, whereas school children with overweight had manifest cardiometabolic derangements, including significantly higher levels of fasting glucose, insulin, homoeostasis model of assessment for insulin resistance, triglycerides, and alanine aminotransferase and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The prevalence of overweight did not change in preschool children during follow-up but increased to 17.0% in school children.
