Prevalence and characteristics of incidental hyperglycemia in children Prevalencia y características de la hiperglicemia incidental en niños

Abstract

Incidental hyperglycemia (IH) is a transient elevation of plasma glucose produced by a severe illness or without a cause. Children with IH have an increased risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D), especially those without concurrent illnesses. We were interested in knowing the prevalence of IH in a population of healthy children and their clinical characteristics. A glycemia of capillary blood with an Optium machine (Abbott) was done in 585 children of both sexes, aged 2 to 18 years, going for a health control, a light infectious disease or for clinical test before minor surgery after obtaining a written consent from their parents. A fasting blood glycemia over 110 mg/dl was considered elevated. Body weight was measured with a precision scale, height with a podometer, skinfolds with a Lange Caliper and the percentage of body fat calculated by the Durnin formula. It was found that 6.9% of children presented IH (8.85% of boys and 4.7% of girls). Average birth weight and height and gestational age