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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Patterns in Body Mass Index Changes in Children after Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Diagnosis
Yarden Tenenbaum Weiss1, Michael Friger1, Alon Haim2
1Faculty of Health Sciences, Goldman School of Medicine, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84101, Israel.
Insights
Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) show lower BMI-SDS at diagnosis, which increases over three years, particularly in the first year. Higher BMI-SDS is linked to basal insulin dose, not sex or ethnicity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Metabolic Disorders
- Diabetes Research
Background:
- Children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) often present with higher body mass index-standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) compared to their non-diabetic peers.
- Standard T1DM treatments include multiple daily insulin injections or insulin pump therapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze BMI changes in pediatric patients during the three years post-T1DM diagnosis.
- To identify factors associated with excessive weight gain in this population.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study analyzed clinical and laboratory data from 194 children (aged 2-18) at diagnosis and at 1, 2, and 3 years post-diagnosis.
- Body mass index (BMI) percentiles and z-scores (standard deviation) were compared against U.S. CDC growth charts.
Main Results:
- Mean BMI-SDS was below average at diagnosis for both males and females, increasing significantly by the first year post-diagnosis.
- Lower glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) at one year correlated with higher BMI-SDS (r = -0.215, P = 0.011).
- Higher daily basal insulin doses correlated with increased BMI-SDS at one and three years (r = 0.183, P = 0.026; r = 0.297, P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
- Pediatric patients with T1DM exhibit lower-than-average BMI-SDS at diagnosis, which rises above average within three years.
- The most substantial increase in BMI-SDS occurred within the first year after diagnosis.
- No significant association was found between higher BMI-SDS and sex or ethnicity.
Background:
Pediatric patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) are commonly treated with daily multiple insulin injections or an insulin pump. They tend to have higher body mass index-standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) than non-diabetic children.
Objectives:
To identify patterns in the changes in BMI in the 3 years after T1DM diagnosis, and to discover factors that relate to excessive weight gain.
Methods:
This retrospective study included clinical and laboratory data for 194 boys and girls aged 2-18 years at the time of diagnosis and at 1, 2, and 3 years after. Their BMI values were compared to non-diabetic children using BMI percentile and z-score (standard deviation) based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts.
Results:
Both males and females had low mean BMI-SDS at diagnosis (-0.4499 ± 1.38743 male, 0.3050 ± 1.29887 female) that increased after 1 year (-0.0449 ± 1.14772 male, 0.1451 ± 0.98893 female). Lower glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) at 1 year correlated with higher BMI-SDS (r = -0.215, P = 0.011). No such correlation was found in the following 2 years. The daily dose of basal insulin correlated with higher BMI-SDS at 1 year (r = 0.183, P = 0.026) and 3 years (r = 0.297, P < 0.01). No association was found between the use of an insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring and higher BMI-SDS.
Conclusions:
BMI-SDS of children with T1DM was lower than average at the time of diagnosis and rose higher than average in the 3 years following. Higher BMI-SDS was not significantly associated with sex or ethnicity. The most prominent increase happened in the first year.
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