Background: The present study aimed to determine the association of the triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) index with IR in pediatric patients with overweight (OW) and OB, to assess the ability of the TG/HDL-C index to predict IR, and to estimate the prevalence of IR and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: A cross-sectional study comprised 628 Mexican children (2-16 years old) from the OB clinic. IR was estimated using the HOMA-IR index (‡2.5). The modified Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to define MetS. Correlation analyses and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to assess the association of the TG/HDL-C index with IR and to establish the best cutoff for the TG/HDL-C index. Results: About 79.3% of the children presented IR and 55.4% MetS. Common findings in patients with IR were acanthosis nigricans (94.8%) and a TG/HDL-C index ‡2.27 (70.5%). Considering all the patients with a high TG/HDL-C index, 78.4% presented MetS, and 88.0% IR. The area under the curve-ROC for the ability of the TG/HDL-C index to predict IR was 0.72 (P < 0.001), with a sensitivity of 70.5% and specificity of 63.1%. Conclusions: TG/HDL-C index is a feasible alternative to the HOMA-IR index to predict IR in Mexican children with OW or OB. It might be used to identify children with the greatest need for treatment interventions.
Keywords: HDL; HOMA; diabetes; insulin resistance; metabolic syndrome; triglycerides.