Insulin Resistance And Its Effects In Children And Adolescents

Numerous data confirm that insulin resistance is a common phenomenon in children, and closely links to an increase in cardiovascular risk, therefore it is urgent to pay attention to this from early childhood. Today, we have more and more knowledge about risk factors, but there is no common position on the definition of insulin resistance in clinical practice and we do not have adequate laboratory markers to identify those at risk effectively. Based on all these factors, laboratory screening is not justified at this age, however, efforts should be made to recognize associated and consequent conditions on a clinical basis. Lifestyle prevention to prevent cardiovascular risk is effective in reducing insulin resistance, but in practice its implementation and effectiveness are limited. At present, pharmacological intervention can only be used in certain selected cases with this age group. Further clinical research is needed to measure insulin resistance, lifestyle and drug intervention options in order to develop successful strategies to prevent and reduce cardiovascular death.