Overweightness and Obesity as Risk Factors for Acanthosis Nigricans

Wadley, Wendy Whittaker, Overweightness and Obesity as Risk Factors for Acanthosis Nigricans. Master of Public Health (Community Health), December, 2001, 42 pp., 6 tables, references, 54 titles. This study was a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study of 1,066 fifth grade students, who were screened for risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) at Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas. Participants (ages 8 to 13) were 55.8% Hispanic, 23.6% African American, 16.1% Caucasian, and 4.5% other minorities. The study’s hypotheses were a) overweight or obese children (Body Mass Index [BMI] ≥85th percentile) were more likely to have acanthosis nigricans (AN) than non-overweight of non-obese children, b) obese children (BMI≥85th-94.9th percentile). Findings supported both hypotheses, overweight or obese children are 17 times (OR=17.24) more likely to have AN that non-overweight or non-obese children, and obese children were about four times (OR=3.88) more likely than overweight children to have AN.