Random Blood Glucose Concentrations and their Association with Body Mass Index in Indian School Children

OBJECTIVE AND AIMS: Overweight/obese children are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Random glucose elevations provide early warning signs of glycemic dysregulation. To assess random blood glucose (RBG) concentrations and risk factors associated with prediabetes in children aged 3-18 years from six Indian regions. METHOD: Multicenter, cross sectional, observational school-based study; multi-stage stratified random sampling was carried out. Height and weight measured; body mass index (BMI) was computed. RBG measured using a glucometer. National sample survey was used for dietary patterns. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 for Windows. SETTING: Study centers were from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Punjab from 40 selected schools. PARTICIPANT: Children aged 3-18 years were measured. RESULTS: Data on 14339 subjects (7413 boys) were analyzed. Prevalence of obesity was 5.8% and overweight-10.6%. Overall, 1% had low (<3 mmol/L), 93.7% in reference range (3.9-7.2 mmol/L) and 5.3% had elevated RBG (>7.2 mmol/L). With increasing mean BMI, there was increase in RBG concentrations. Children from Tamil Nadu were more likely to have RBG outside reference range compared to other regions (P < 0.05). Assam and Punjab had highest prevalence of RBG and BMI within reference range. Energy intake partly explained regional variations. Multivariate analysis showed male gender, urban residency, age >10 yrs (girls) and 13 yrs (boys), and overweight or obesity were predictive of prediabetes. CONCLUSION: Increased prevalence of overweight, obesity and prediabetes in Indian children are a matter of concern. Regional differences suggest that strategies to prevent obesity and combat perturbations in blood sugar may have to be customized.