Prevalence of glucose intolerance in school age children. Population based cross-sectional study

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Abstract
The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of glucose intolerance among school children in south-eastern Poland.Schools were randomly selected in the area and the entire school population was studied. We examined 1083 children (510 boys and 573 girls) in the mean age 14.49 years (age range: 7.9-19 years). Their weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Patients were classified as overweight or obese based on International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria. We tested fasting glucose level in randomly selected children with normal weight (N=83) in all overweight and obese subjects (N=229). In children with fasting blood glucose level higher than 5.5 mmol/L (100 mg/dL) oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed.About 17.8% of children were overweight and 4.6% obese. Fasting hyperglycemia was found in 16.7% obese children. The calculated prevalence of fasting hyperglycemia for entire population was 6.7/1000. Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was found only in obese children. The prevalence of glucose intolerance in obese children was 7.1%, in contrast the calculated prevalence of glucose intolerance for the entire population was 3.0/1000 (95% confidence interval: 0-8.4/1000).Despite relatively high number of obese children, the prevalence of IGT among schoolchildren of south-eastern Poland remains low.