Eicosapentaenoic acid/arachidonic acid ratio in Japanese junior high school students.

BACKGROUND: This epidemiological study investigated the eicosapentaenoic acid/arachidonic acid ratio (EAR) and docosahexaenoic acid/ arachidonic acid ratio (DAR) in ninth-graders in Japan. METHODS: A total of 175 ninth-grade children from Tsunan Town (115 boys and 60 girls) were enrolled in the study between 2015 and 2017. All participants were assessed during annual health checkups to determine their EAR and DAR. All data were compared between boys and girls using the Mann-Whitney test. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to describe the strengths of correlations between the EAR, DAR, and relevant parameters. RESULTS: The median (minimum, maximum) EAR and DAR of all participants were 0.13 (0.05, 0.46) and 0.47 (0.25, 0.84), respectively. There was no significant difference in the EAR between boys and girls at 0.12 (0.05, 0.46) and 0.13 (0.06, 0.27) (P = 0.375), respectively. The DAR was not significantly different (P = 0.125). There was a significant positive correlation between EAR and triglyceride, body mass index, and homeostasis model assessment but a significantly negative correlation with HbA1c (r = -0.209, P = 0.006). In contrast, there was no significant correlation between DAR and any parameters. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first epidemiological study investigating the EAR using a population-based cohort of Japanese adolescents. The EAR in boys/girls in Japan is 0.12 (0.05, 0.46)/0.13 (0.06, 0.27). The study results suggest that children with a healthy diet may generally have a lower average blood glucose level.

Changes in insulin resistance, body mass index and degree of obesity among junior high school students: A comparison before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has affected the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), body mass index (BMI) and degree of obesity among Japanese children. HOMA-IR, BMI and degree of obesity were calculated for 378 children 14-15 years old (boys/girls, 208/170) who underwent checkups during 2015-2021. Changes in these parameters over time and correlations between parameters were assessed, and the proportions of participants with IR (HOMA-IR ≥2.5) were compared. HOMA-IR values increased significantly over the study period (p < 0.001), with a significantly large proportion of participants with IR in 2020-2021 (p < 0.001). Conversely, BMI and degree of obesity did not change significantly. HOMA-IR did not correlate with BMI or degree of obesity during 2020-2021. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an impact on the increase in the proportion of children with IR, regardless of BMI or degree of obesity.