Girls, Boys, and Diabetes

Obese girls are more likely to suffer from prediabetic insulin intolerance than their male counterparts. That condition puts them at a higher risk of adult-onset type 2 diabetes. These study results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in June 2003.

A total of 68 obese boys and 66 obese girls, all of whom were about 12 years old, were studied. None had type 2 diabetes, but 4.5% had glucose intolerance, a precursor to diabetes marked by elevated blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance was significantly more common in girls than in boys. Reasons for the gender difference are unknown, said study coauthor Mauricio Jadzinsky, MD, head of nutrition at the Durand Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ?You could think of hormonal factors, but it has not been scientifically proven yet,? he said.