There is limited reliable evidence on the extent and consequences of adiposity in UK South Asian and black African-Caribbean children. Most available evidence is based on body mass index (BMI), potentially unreliable for ethnic comparisons; bioelectrical impedance (bioimpcdance) is promising but its validity for ethnic comparisons remains uncertain. The primary aims of this thesis were to describe adiposity patterns in UK South Asian, black African-Caribbean and white European children, to examine ethnic differences in the associations between adiposity and type 2 diabetes risk and to compare adiposity patterns in Indian children living in India and the UK. The main data source was the Child Heart and Health Study in England, a cross-sectional study of adiposity (including bioimpedance, skinfolds and BMI) and type 2 diabetes risk markers in 5759 South Asian, black African-Caribbean and white European children. This was supplemented by a study validating bioimpedance against deuterium dilution in 864 children from these ethnic groups and a study of adiposity and cardiometabolic risk in 483 Indian children. Compared with white European children, South Asians had higher adiposity levels based on bioimpedance and skinfolds; black African-Caribbeans had either similar (bioimpedance) or lower (skinfolds) adiposity levels. In contrast, BMI was lower among South Asians and higher among black African-Caribbeans. The associations between adiposity (all markers), insulin resistance and HbAle were stronger in South Asians than white Europeans; patterns in black African-Caribbeans were inconsistent. The use of newly validated ethnic-specific equations to derive body fat from bioimpedance further emphasized the higher adiposity levels in South Asians and lower levels in black African-Caribbeans, but had little effect on adiposity-insulin, adiposity-HbA 1 c associations. UK Indian children had markedly greater adiposity than Indian children. These results have important implications for adiposity measurement in children of different ethnic origin, and for adiposity prevention, especially in UK South Asian children
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:604013 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Nightingale, Claire Marie |
| Publisher | St George's, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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