Association of cardiometabolic risk factors with insulin resistance in overweight and obese children

INTRODUCTION: Regarding the increased prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents, and the impact of obesity on insulin resistance (IR) and other metabolic disorders, this study was performed to determine the association of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) with IR in overweight and obese children. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study 150 overweight and obese children (BMI ≥ 85(th) and BMI ≥ 95(th) age-sex specific percentile) and adolescents were selected via convenient sampling method from Endocrinology clinic in Karaj; Iran in 2020. Anthropometric indices, lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), and Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) were evaluated. IR was defined as HOMA-IR ≥ 2.6. Multivariable linear and logistic regression model was used to assess the association of CMRFs with insulin level and IR respectively. RESULTS: The mean age of children was 10.37 (± 2.6) years. Fifty-four percent of the participants were girls. IR was increased through increasing age (P < 0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression model, by increasing each unit increment in waist circumference (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01–1.06), wrist circumference (OR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.06–2.02) total cholesterol (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.003–1.03) and FBG (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.05–1.18) the odds of IR increased significantly. Moreover, in the adjusted linear regression model, HOMA-IR was associated significantly with waist to height ratio (β: 2.45), and FBG (β: 0.02). CONCLUSION: There was a significant association between some CMRFS with IR in overweight and obese children. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-022-01245-7.