Serum uric acid as an obesity-related indicator in early adolescence

In adults, serum uric acid levels are positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and hyperuricemia is considered to be a common lifestyle disorder related with obesity. However, the relation of serum uric acid levels with obesity has not been elucidated in children and adolescents. Serum uric acid levels were determined in 1,729 healthy children, consisted of 923 boys and 806 girls, aged 9.1 - 15.0 years. The incidence of hyperuricemia (defined as more than 7.0 mg/dl) in boys and girls were 8.8% and 0.6%, respectively. In 1,281 children out of all subjects, including 684 boys and 597 girls, height, weight, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase were also determined and the correlations between serum uric acid levels and obesity were analyzed. BMI is popularly used as a standard indicator of obesity in adults. However, BMI increases without fat accumulation as children grow. In Japan, percentage of overweight (POW) is usually used as an alternative indicator for obesity. In general, children are evaluated as obesity, when POW is equal to or more than 20% (>or= 20%). Serum uric acid levels are positively correlated with obesity-related indicators, BMI and POW, in both boys and girls. Serum uric acid levels of the subjects with high POW (>or= 20%) are significantly higher than those of the subjects with low POW (< 20%) in both boys and girls. These results suggest that serum uric acid levels are significantly increased with obesity and could be used as one of obesity-related indicators even in early adolescence.