Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in a 6th grade multi-racial cohort: the HEALTHY study
- The HEALTHY Study Group,
- Francine R. Kaufman, MD (chair),
- Kathryn Hirst, PhD (khirst{at}bsc.gwu.edu),
- Barbara Linder, MD PhD,
- Tom Baranowski, PhD,
- Dan M. Cooper, MD,
- Gary Foster, PhD,
- Linn Goldberg, MD,
- Joanne Harrell, PhD,
- Marsha D. Marcus, PhD and
- Roberto Treviño, MD
- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
- George Washington University
- National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Baylor College of Medicine
- University of California at Irvine
- Temple University
- Oregon Health & Science University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Abstract
Objective: HEALTHY is a 3-year middle school intervention program designed to reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes risk factors at baseline in a cohort of 6358 sixth grade students is reported.
Research Design and Methods: 42 schools at 7 US sites were randomly assigned to intervention or control. Students participated in baseline data collection during fall 2006.
Results: Overall, 49.3% of children had BMI ≥ 85th percentile, 16.0% had fasting blood glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL (< 1% had fasting blood glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL), and 6.8% had fasting insulin ≥ 30 μU/mL. Hispanic youth were likelier to have BMI, glucose, and insulin levels above these thresholds compared to Blacks and Whites.
Conclusions: Sixth grade students in schools with large minority populations have high levels of risk factors for type 2 diabetes. The HEALTHY intervention was designed to modify these risk factors to reduce diabetes incidence.
Footnotes
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- Received September 26, 2008.
- Accepted January 20, 2009.
- Copyright © American Diabetes Association
