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Sexual dimorphism in relationship of serum leptin and relative weight for the standard in normal-weight, but not in overweight, children as well as adolescents

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 55, pages 989–993 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To demonstrate sexual dimorphism in serum leptin levels not only during puberty, but also in childhood in Japan.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Hamamatsu-Hokuen study in Japan.

Subjects: Body weight and height were measured in normal-weight Japanese children and adolescents (143 boys, 178 girls), and 161 boys and 129 girls whose percentage of overweight for the standard (%Wt) was more than+25%. Serum leptin levels were compared with %Wt. Subjects were divided into group 1 (6–10 y of age) and group 2 (11–15 y of age) according to their age.

Results: In overweight subjects, leptin was more highly correlated with %Wt in boys of group 2 (r=0.67, P<0.0001) than group 1 (r=0.32, P=0.004). In girls as well, a correlation coefficient was greater in group 2 (r=0.67, P<0.0001) than group 1 (r=0.44, P=0.0011). In normal-weight boys, there was no significant correlation between serum leptin and %Wt both in groups 1 and 2. On the contrary, statistical significance was demonstrated in the correlation between serum leptin and %Wt in group 1 (r=0.31, P=0.0019) and group 2 (r=0.35, P=0.0014) as well as in the total normal-weight girls (r=0.28, P=0.0011).

Conclusions: It is suggested that sexual dimorphism is present in serum leptin levels, especially when compared to weight, as early as during childhood.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 989–993

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by grants from The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare (Research on Children and Families, Chiefs, Professor N Matsuura and Professor K Kida) and Japan China Medical Association (Tokyo, Japan). We would like to thank Professor T Matsumoto and Professor M Arakida (Department of Nursing) and Professor M Kanamori (Department of Public Health) for their cooperation.

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Author notes

  1. T Ohzeki: Guarantor: T Ohzeki.

  2. T Nakanishi, R Li, Z Liu, M Yi, Y Nakagawa and T Ohzeki: Contributors: TN was the leading contributor to the study. YN and TO were involved in the concept and planning. RL, ZL and MY were responsible for laboratory analyses. All contributors participated in writing the paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan

    T Nakanishi, R Li, Z Liu, M Yi, Y Nakagawa & T Ohzeki

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  1. T Nakanishi
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Correspondence to T Ohzeki.

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Nakanishi, T., Li, R., Liu, Z. et al. Sexual dimorphism in relationship of serum leptin and relative weight for the standard in normal-weight, but not in overweight, children as well as adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 989–993 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601257

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