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Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load in relation to changes in body composition measures during adolescence: Northern Ireland Young Hearts Study

International Journal of Obesity volume 38, pages 252–258 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

Epidemiologic evidence on the influence of dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) on the development of obesity is limited.

Objective:

This prospective study examined the associations between dietary GI and GL and changes in body composition measures during adolescence.

Design:

In a representative sample of Northern Irish adolescents aged 12 years at baseline and 15 years at follow-up (n=426), dietary intake was assessed by a diet history interview. Body composition measures included body mass index (BMI; kg m−2), BMI z-score, sum of four skinfold thicknesses, percentage body fat, fat mass index (FMI; kg m−2) and fat-free mass index (kg m−2).

Results:

After adjustment for potential confounding factors, baseline GI was associated with increased change in FMI. Mean (95% confidence interval) values of changes in FMI according to tertiles of baseline GI were 0.41 (0.25, 0.57), 0.42 (0.26, 0.58) and 0.67 (0.51, 0.83) kg m−2, respectively (P for trend=0.03). There was no significant association of baseline GI with changes in other body composition measures (P for trend⩾0.054). Conversely, baseline GL showed no association with changes in any of the measures (P for trend⩾0.41). Furthermore, changes in GI or GL were not associated with changes in any of the measures (P for trend⩾0.16).

Conclusion:

Dietary GI at age 12 years was independently associated with increased change in FMI between ages 12 and 15 years in a representative sample from Northern Ireland, whereas dietary GL showed no association with changes in any of the body composition measures examined.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan (to KM). Members of the Young Hearts Study Group are as follows: Liam J Murray, Maurice J Savage, Ian S Young, JJ Strain, Gordon Cran, Paula J Robson and Jayne V Woodside.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK

    K Murakami, T A McCaffrey, A M Gallagher & M B E Livingstone

  2. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

    K Murakami

  3. Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK

    C E Neville

  4. Institute for Sport and Health, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    C A Boreham

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  1. K Murakami
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Murakami, K., McCaffrey, T., Gallagher, A. et al. Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load in relation to changes in body composition measures during adolescence: Northern Ireland Young Hearts Study. Int J Obes 38, 252–258 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.63

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