Background: Lipid peroxidation is pathogenetically involved in atherogenesis and α-tocopherol and β-carotene are the most important lipid soluble antioxidants.

Subjects: Obese boys (n=13) and sex-matched controls(n=10) (age: 13.6±2.4 vs. 15.2±2.6 years, ns; body weight 89.2±24.6 vs. 64.2±2.4 kg, mean±SD, P<0.05).

Interventions: Plasma α-tocopherol andβ-carotene were measured by HPLC.

Results: Markedly obese children had significantly lower plasma α-tocopherol [3.41 (2.47) vs. 7.46 (2.03), mg/l, median(IQR), P<0.05] and β-carotene [0.038 (0.02) vs. 0.078 (0.09), P<0.05] concentrations than controls. The differences remained significant after correction for lipidaemia [α-tocopherol/cholesterol+triglyceride: 0.22 (0.26) vs. 0.89 (0.38) mg/mmol, P<0.05;β-carotene/cholesterol+triglyceride: 0.007 (0.004) vs. 0.013 (0.011), P<0.05].

Conclusion: The availability of α-tocopherol and β-carotene is subnormal in some markedly obese children who might benefit from an increased supply.