Introduction: A significant increase in the incidence of overweight and obesity is observed among children and adolescents. This problem began to occur not only in healthy populations, but also among young diabetics. The aim of the study was to assess the nutritional status of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) compared to those in a control group of healthy subjects as well as to determine the influence of the type of insulin therapy used.
Methods: The case-control study included 169 people aged 9-15 years. The study group (n = 85) consisted of Polish children with T1DM, and the control group (n = 84) consisted of healthy subjects. The assessment of the nutritional status included anthropometric measurements. Analysis of body composition was carried out by bioelectrical impedance analysis. To assess nutritional behavior a questionnaire was used. Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the Medical University of Białystok (no. R-I-002/168/2017).
Results: Median body mass index (BMI) value in the T1DM group was 19.2 kg/m2 and was statistically significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in the control group (17.8 kg/m2). Normal BMI was found in 90% of the individuals in the CSII group, while in the MDI group it was only 61%. The percentage of fat mass was 19.1% in the T1DM group and 17.6% in the healthy group. The percentage of muscle mass was 36.1% and 34.5%, respectively. The abdominal obesity according to waist circumference (above 90th percentile) turned out to be statistically significant (P < 0.01) and occurred more often in adolescents with T1DM (27%), while in the healthy group it was 12%.
Conclusions: The healthy individuals as well as the majority of the children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus were well nourished. People using personal insulin pumps showed better nutritional status than those using insulin pens.
Keywords: Adolescents; Bioelectrical impedance analysis; Insulin therapy; Metabolic management; Nutritional behaviors.