Congratulations to HALO PhD student Taru Manyanga on the recent publication of his master’s thesis work! The first paper, “Not as skinny as we used to think: Body mass index in children and adolescents at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus,” was published in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. The second paper, “Is the change in body mass index among children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus associated with obesity at transition from pediatric to adult care?,” was published in Pediatric Diabetes.

Citation details and summaries of the papers are below.

Paper #1

Manyanga T, Sellers EA, Wicklow BA, Doupe M, Fransoo R. Not as skinny as we used to think: Body mass index in children and adolescents at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus. J Diabetes Complications. 2015 Dec 1. pii: S1056-8727(15)00460-2.

ABSTRACT: This retrospective analysis of clinical data for children (2-18years old) with incident T1D found surprisingly low (9%) prevalence of underweight, and high (15% overweight; 8% obesity) respectively at diagnosis. These results suggests a need to rethink the classic clinical teaching surrounding skinnier presentation at diagnosis, and importantly, the corresponding expectation of weight gain after insulin therapy initiation.

Paper #2

Manyanga T, Sellers EA, Wicklow BA, Doupe M, Fransoo R. Is the change in body mass index among children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus associated with obesity at transition from pediatric to adult care? Pediatr Diabetes. 2016 Jan 8. doi: 10.1111/pedi.12344. [Epub ahead of print]

ABSTRACT: Background. To examine if change in body mass index (BMI) among children in the 6 months after diagnosis with type 1 diabetes mellitus isassociated with long-term obesity. Methods. This was a population-based retrospective study of 377 children (aged 2-18 yr) with type 1 diabetes. Measured heights and weights were used to calculate BMI z-scores based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cut-points. Generalized Linear Models using BMI group, and age group at diagnosis; postdiagnosis weight change; and sex were applied to assess associations between postdiagnosis weight change and BMI z-score at transition to adult care. Results. Mean BMI z-score increased from 0.28 at diagnosis, to 0.53 at 6 months and 0.66 at transition to adult care. Change in BMI z-scores differed by initial BMI group and magnitude of postdiagnosis weight change. Younger children (<11 yr) had higher (p = 0.004) BMI z-scores at diagnosis but not at last visit (p = 0.1) than older (≥11 yr) children at diagnosis. BMI z-score at diagnosis, postdiagnosis weight change, female sex, and longer duration with TID were associated with higher BMI z-score at time of transition. Conclusions. BMI z-score at diagnosis was the strongest predictor of BMI z-score at time of transition to adult care, however; its effect was mediated by magnitude of weight change 6 months after diagnosis, sex, and age group at diagnosis.