Are girls more insulin-resistant than boys?

ObjectiveThe objective was to determine whether girls were more insulin-resistant than boys.Design and methodsData from 1009 children (508 males) in 10 elementary schools, between April and September, 2007 were collected. BMI, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, Tanner stage, lipids, insulin, and glucose were obtained.ResultsOne hundred and sixty five (16.4%) of the children were obese (> 95%ile), and 166 (16.5%) were overweight (85–95%ile). Mean HOMA-IR and insulin were higher among 10.0–13.9-year-old girls than boys. Multiple logistic regression using the 3rd quartile of HOMA-IR as the dependent variable showed that only BMI OR = 1.18 (95% CI 1.12–1.24; p  < 0.001), Tanner OR = 1.39 (95% CI 1.12–1.73; p  = 0.003) and triglycerides 1.005 (95% CI 1.00–1.01; p  = 0.04) were significantly associated with insulin resistance while sex and HDL-C were not.ConclusionsThis study showed that no significant sex-related differences were found, and HOMA-IR was associated with adiposity and pubertal stage suggesting that the higher values of HOMA-IR in girls than in boys could be due to their earlier pubertal development.