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Updated: May 10, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load in relation to changes in body composition measures during adolescence:
K Murakami1, T A McCaffrey2, A M Gallagher2
11] Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK [2] Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
Background:
Epidemiologic evidence on the influence of dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) on the development of obesity is limited.
Objective:
This prospective study examined the associations between dietary GI and GL and changes in body composition measures during adolescence.
Design:
In a representative sample of Northern Irish adolescents aged 12 years at baseline and 15 years at follow-up (n=426), dietary intake was assessed by a diet history interview. Body composition measures included body mass index (BMI; kg m(-2)), BMI z-score, sum of four skinfold thicknesses, percentage body fat, fat mass index (FMI; kg m(-2)) and fat-free mass index (kg m(-2)).
Results:
After adjustment for potential confounding factors, baseline GI was associated with increased change in FMI. Mean (95% confidence interval) values of changes in FMI according to tertiles of baseline GI were 0.41 (0.25, 0.57), 0.42 (0.26, 0.58) and 0.67 (0.51, 0.83) kg m(-2), respectively (P for trend=0.03). There was no significant association of baseline GI with changes in other body composition measures (P for trend≥0.054). Conversely, baseline GL showed no association with changes in any of the measures (P for trend≥0.41). Furthermore, changes in GI or GL were not associated with changes in any of the measures (P for trend≥0.16).
Conclusion:
Dietary GI at age 12 years was independently associated with increased change in FMI between ages 12 and 15 years in a representative sample from Northern Ireland, whereas dietary GL showed no association with changes in any of the body composition measures examined.
