The Prevalence of Insulin Resistance and the Associated Risk Factors in a Sample of 14-18-Year-Old Slovak Adolescents

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-01, Vol.18 (3), p.909
• Main Authors: Jurkovičová, Jana, Hirošová, Katarína, Vondrová, Diana, Samohýl, Martin, Štefániková, Zuzana, Filová, Alexandra, Kachútová, Ivana, Babjaková, Jana, Argalášová, Ľubica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Adolescent; Adolescents; Age; Atherosclerosis; Beverages; Blood Glucose; Blood pressure; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Cardiovascular diseases; Child development; Cholesterol; Chronic illnesses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data processing; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Disease prevention; Female; Health risks; Heart rate; Homeostasis; Humans; Hypertension; Insulin; Insulin Resistance; Low level; Male; Meals; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; Obesity; Overweight; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Prevalence; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Sex differences; Skewed distributions; Sleep; Slovakia - epidemiology; Statistical methods; Teenagers; Weight reduction; Young adults
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18030909

The prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors has increased in Slovakian adolescents as a result of serious lifestyle changes. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of insulin resistance (IR) and the associations with cardiometabolic and selected lifestyle risk factors in a sample of Slovak adolescents. In total, 2629 adolescents (45.8% males) aged between 14 and 18 years were examined in the study. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure (BP), and resting heart rate were measured; fasting venous blood samples were analyzed; and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-insulin resistance (IR) was calculated. For statistical data processing, the methods of descriptive and analytical statistics for normal and skewed distribution of variables were used. The mean HOMA-IR was 2.45 ± 1.91, without a significant sex differences. IR (cut-off point for HOMA-IR = 3.16) was detected in 18.6% of adolescents (19.8% males, 17.6% females). IR was strongly associated with overweight/obesity (especially central) and with almost all monitored cardiometabolic factors, except for total cholesterol (TC) and systolic BP in females. The multivariate model selected variables such as low level of physical fitness, insufficient physical activity, breakfast skipping, a small number of daily meals, frequent consumption of sweetened beverages, and low educational level of fathers as significant risk factors of IR in adolescents. Recognizing the main lifestyle risk factors and early IR identification is important in terms of the performance of preventive strategies. Weight reduction, regular physical activity, and healthy eating habits can improve insulin sensitivity and decrease the incidence of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD).