Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To study whether body mass index (BMI) is different in girls with Turner syndrome (TS) compared to normal girls, and whether BMI in TS is affected by growth hormone (GH) treatment.
DESIGN: A retrospective cross-sectional study.
SUBJECTS: 2468 girls with TS enrolled in the National Cooperative Group Study (NCGS), a collaborative surveillance study for assessing GH-treated children.
MEASUREMENTS: BMI and BMI standard deviation score (BMI SDS) at baseline and during GH treatment were computed from height and weight data.
RESULTS: BMI in TS patients increases with age as expected. However, BMI SDS increased starting at about age 9 y. A similar pattern of increase in BMI SDS was observed after each year of GH treatment for up to 4 y, but GH treatment did not change the magnitude of increase. BMI and BMI SDS curves before and during GH treatment were essentially superimposable.
CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that mechanisms specific for TS are responsible for the age-related increase in BMI SDS. This increase was unaffected by GH treatment.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Saenger P . Turner's syndrome New Engl J Med 1996 335: 1749–1754.
Van den Broeck J, Massa GG, Attanasio A, Metranga A, Chaussain JL, Price DA, Aarskog D, Wit JM . Final height after long-term growth hormone treatment in Turner syndrome J Pediatr 1995 127: 729–735.
Nilsson KO, Albertsson-Wikland K, Alm J, Aronson S, Gustafsson J, Hagenas L, Hager A, Ivarsson SA, Karlberg J, Kristom B, Marcus C, Moell C, Ritzen M, Tuvemo T, Wattsgard C, Westgren U, Westphal O, Aman J . Improved final height in girls with Turner's syndrome treated with growth hormone and oxandrolone J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1996 81: 635–640.
Rosenfeld RG, Attie KM, Frane J, Brasel JA, Burstein S, Casa JF, Chernausek S, Gotlin RW, Kuntze J, Lippe BM, Mahoney CP, Moore WV, Saenger P, Johanson AJ . Growth hormone therapy of Turner's syndrome: beneficial effect on adult height J Pediatr 1998 132: 319–324.
Hall JG, Sybert VP, Williamson RA, Fisher NL, Reed SD . Turner syndrome West J Med 1982 137: 32–44.
Hanaki K, Ohzeki T, Ishitani N, Mozozumi H, Matsuda-Ohtahara H, Shiraki K . Fat distribution in overweight patients with Ullrich–Turner syndrome Am J Med Genet 1992 42: 428–430.
Gravholt CH, Juul S, Naeraa RW, Hansen J . Morbidity in Turner Syndrome J Clin Epidemiol 1998 51: 147–158.
Rolland-Cachera MF, Sempe M, Guilloud-Bataille M, Patois E, Pequinot-Guggenbuhl F . Adiposity indices in children Am J Clin Nutr 1982 36: 178–184.
Poskitt EM . Defining childhood obesity: the relative body mass index (BMI). European Childhood Obesity Group Acta Paediatr 1995 84: 961–963.
August GP, Lippe BM, Blethen SL, Rosenfeld RG, Seelig SA, Johanson AJ, Compton PG, Frane JW, McClellan BH, Sherman BM . Growth hormone treatment in the United States: demographic and diagnostic features of 2331 children J Pediatr 1990 116: 899–903.
Hammer LD, Kraemer HC, Wilson DM, Ritter PL, Dornbusch SM . Standardized percentile curves of body mass index for children and adolescents Am J Dis Child 1991 145: 259–263.
Becker R, Chambers JM, Wilks AR . The New S Language: A programming Environment for Data Analysis and Graphics. Wadworth & Brooks/Cole: Pacific Grove, CA, 1988.
Cole TJ, Freeman JV, Preece MA . Body mass index reference curves for the U.K Arch Dis Child 1995 73: 25–39.
Must A, Dallal GE, Dietz WH . Reference data for obesity: 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index (wt/ht2) and triceps skinfold thickness Am J Clin Nutr 1991 53: 839–846.
Must A, Dallal GE, Dietz WH . Reference data for obesity: 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index (wt/ht2)—a correction Am J Clin Nutr 1991 54: 773.
Ogle GD, Allen JR, Humphries IR, Lu PW, Brody JN, Morley K, Howman-Giles R, Cowell CT . Body composition assessment by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in subjects aged 4–26 y Am J Clin Nutr 1995 61: 746–753.
Himes J, Dietz W . Guidelines for overweight in adolescent preventive services: recommendations from an expert committee Am J Clin Nutr 1994 59: 307–316.
Guo SS, Roche AF, Chumlea WC, Gardner JD, Siervogel RM . The predictive value of childhood body mass index values for overweight at age 35 y Am J Clin Nutr 1994 59: 810–819.
Van den Broeck J, Wit J-M . Anthropometry and body composition in children Horm Res 1997 48 (Suppl 1): 33–42.
De Ridder CM, Thijssen JH, Bruning PF, Van den Brande JL, Zonderland ML, Erich WB . Body fat mass, body fat distribution, and pubertal development; a longitudinal study of physical and hormonal sexual maturation of girls J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1992 75: 442–446.
Rico H, Revilla M, Villa LF, Hernandez ER, Alvarez de Buergo M, Villa M . Body composition in children and Tanner's stages: a study with dual X-ray absorptiometry Metabolism 1993 42: 967–970.
Corel LJA, Van den Broeck J, Rongen-Westerlaken C, Massa G, Wit JM . Body weight in children with Turner syndrome treated with growth hormone Int J Obes 1996 20: 957–962.
Rongen-Westerlaken C, Corel L, van den Broeck J, Massa G, Karlberg J . Reference values for height, height velocity and weight in Turner's syndrome Acta Paediatr 1997 86: 937–942.
Sklar CA, Kaplan SL, Grumbach MM . Evidence for dissociation between adrenarche and gonadarche; studies in patients with idiopathic precocious puberty, gonadal dysgenesis, isolated gonadotrophin deficiency, and constitutionally delayed growth and adolescence J Clin Endocrinl Metab 1980 51: 548–556.
Frisch R, McArthur J . Menstrual cycles: fatness as a determinant of minimum weight for height necessary for their maintenance or onset Science 1974 85: 949–951.
Park E . Body shape in Turner syndrome Human Biol 1977 49: 215–223.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blackett, P., Rundle, A., Frane, J. et al. Body mass index (BMI) in Turner syndrome before and during growth hormone (GH) therapy. Int J Obes 24, 232–235 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801119
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801119
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Growth hormone effect on body composition in Turner syndrome
Endocrine (2011)