The beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet have been amply proven in adults with cardiovascular risk factors. The effects of this diet have not been extensively assessed in pediatric populations with obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of the Mediterranean style diet (MSD) to decrease cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents with obesity.

Background: Insulin resistance is the primary metabolic disorder associated with obesity; yet little is known about its role as a determinant of the metabolic syndrome in obese children. The aim of this study is to assess the association between the degree of insulin resistance and the different components of the metabolic syndrome among obese children and adolescents. Methods: An analytical, cross-sectional and population-based study was performed in forty-four public primary schools in Campeche City, Mexico. A total of 466 obese children and adolescents between 11-13 years of age were recruited. Fasting glucose and insulin concentrations, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured; insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome were also evaluated. Results: Out of the total population studied, 69% presented low values of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, 49% suffered from abdominal obesity, 29% had hypertriglyceridemia, 8% presented high systolic and 13% high diastolic blood pressure, 4% showed impaired fasting glucose, 51% presented insulin resistance and 20% metabolic syndrome. In spite of being obese, 13% of the investigated population did not present any metabolic disorder. For each one of the components of the metabolic syndrome, when insulin resistance increased so did odds ratios as cardiometabolic risk factors. Conclusions: Regardless of age and gender an increased degree of insulin resistance is associated with a higher prevalence of disorders in each of the components of the metabolic syndrome and with a heightened risk of suffering metabolic syndrome among obese children and adolescents.

Overweight and obesity have become a world-health public problem, mainly for developing countries. Both health conditions have a higher prevalence among women of childbearing age. Physiopathology, overweight and obesity are characterized by a chronic oxidative stress status, which has deleterious effects on mothers and children. Hence, we determine whether the qualities of diet during pregnancy and maternal pregestational body mass index (BMI) are associated with increased oxidative stress markers in mothers and newborns. Two hundred forty-two (242) mother-newborn pairs were classified according to their pregestational BMI. Information on food intake was collected using a food frequency questionnaire in the third trimester of pregnancy. Levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Nitric Oxide (NO) were measured in plasma from mothers at the end of the third trimester of pregnancy and from cord blood at birth. MDA and NO levels in mother–newborn pairs with maternal pregestational overweight or obesity were higher than in mother–newborn pairs with pregestational normal weight. For women (and newborns) who had a higher intake of fruit and vegetables, the levels of NO and MDA were lower. Lastly, women with pregestational obesity had lower fruit and vegetable intake during pregnancy and higher levels of oxidative stress and in their newborns.

Objective: To compare the level of oxidative deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage (genotoxicity) between the offspring of mothers with and without diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy and its association with maternal body mass index (BMI). Methods: We measured 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG), a marker of DNA oxidative damage, in venous umbilical cord plasma from newborns of mothers with (n=34) and without (n=56) diabetes diagnoses obtained during pregnancy. Two markers of oxidative stress – namely, nitric oxide degradation products (NOx) and total glutathione (GSH) – were quantified in both mothers and newborns. The effects of BMI, glycated hemoglobin (HbA_1c), age and delivery mode were also analyzed. Results: Newborns of mothers with diabetes during pregnancy exhibited higher levels of 8-OH-dG than those of mothers without diabetes (P<0.001). The other markers of oxidative stress were also higher in both mothers with diabetes and their newborns, with the exception of NOx in the mothers. The association of diabetes with 8-OH-dG was independent of other analyzed factors. Conclusion: The offspring of mothers with diabetes during pregnancy are born with increased genotoxicity than the offspring of mothers without diabetes. BMI and HbA_1c display an independent association with 8-OH-dG, particularly in the offspring of mothers not diagnosed with diabetes.