Geographic variation in the frequency of abdominal adiposity and metabolic syndrome in Italian adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

we explored whether the frequency of abdominal adiposity and consequently of metabolic syndrome (MetSy) also varied across the different geographic areas in Italian adolescents with T1DM.This cross-sectional study included a total of 412 Italian adolescents of Caucasian origin (219 males) with T1DM, aged 16–19 years, with a duration of diabetes of 8.4±3.9 years.All patients were on multi-injection or pump insulin treatment; the daily insulin dose (ID) per body surface area was calculated. MetSy was defined according to the IDF criteria; all patients were considered to fulfill the criterion of hyperglycemia. Abdominal adiposity (W/h <0.5) was found in 116 patients (28.1 %) and MetSy in 39 patients (9.5 %). The highest frequencies of both abdominal adiposity and MetSy were found in patients living in southern Italy. No difference in BMI and daily ID was found among patients living in the three geographic areas, while HbA1c levels differed between patients living in the northern and central regions. In addition, patients with MetSy living in the North had not only significantly higher ID and worse HbA1c than patients without MetSy, but also higher ID (p=0.022) and worse HbA1c (p= 0.012) than patients with MetSy living in the south.