The Health Influences of Puberty (HIP) Study is designed to explore the relationships between
puberty and the onset of type 2 diabetes in adolescents. The results of this study will help
us better understand how to prevent type 2 diabetes in these youth. Children go through many
changes during puberty, including important hormonal and behavioral alterations. Among these
changes, it has long been known that, during puberty, insulin does not work as well as it
does before and after puberty. This is called physiologic insulin resistance. In healthy
children, this does not cause diabetes or affect blood sugar in any way because the body is
able to compensate by making more insulin. Indeed, this is thought to be an important part of
the adolescent growth spurt. However, in some children with increased risk for developing
type 2 diabetes due to obesity and genetics, the worsening insulin resistance of puberty
cannot be compensated for and these youth get diabetes early. The investigators believe this
is because type 2 diabetes is rarely, if ever, seen before puberty begins, and the peak of
diabetes onset in adolescents occurs at the time of the worst insulin resistance. This
specific research project has two goals: 1. To examine effects of obesity on how well the
body's insulin works during puberty, and 2. To see if treatment of obese children during this
critical period of puberty with a medication that improves insulin resistance (metformin)
will help prevent early onset type 2 diabetes.
Phase:
Phase 4
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University of Colorado, Denver
Collaborators:
American Diabetes Association Children's Hospital Colorado Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) National Institutes of Health (NIH)