Clinical, Psychosocial, and Demographic Factors Are Associated With Overweight and Obesity in Early Adolescent Girls With Type 1 Diabetes

Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine the differences in clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors by sex and weight status. Methods Baseline data were analyzed from 318 adolescents (mean age = 12.3 1.1 years, 55.0% female, 62.7% white) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) from a multisite clinical trial. Differences were examined between normal weight (body mass index 5th and <85th percentile) and overweight/obese (body mass index 85th percentile) boys and girls with T1D in clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were used. Results Overweight/obesity was prevalent (39.0%) and common in girls (42.6%) and boys (33.1%). In bivariate analyses, overweight/obese girls had parents with lower educational attainment, longer diabetes duration, and significantly worse self-management and psychosocial health as compared with normal weight girls. There were no differences between overweight/obese and normal weight girls in A1C, therapy type, race/ethnicity, or household income. No significant differences were found between normal weight and overweight/obese boys. In multivariate analysis, parental educational attainment (master or higher vs high school diploma or less) and perceived stress were significantly associated with overweight/obesity in girls. Longer duration of T1D bordered statistical significance. Conclusions Overweight/obesity is prevalent among adolescents with T1D. Clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors are associated with overweight/obesity in girls but not boys. Greater attention to weight status and aspects of health that are germane to adolescents with T1D is warranted.