The effect of subclinical hypothyroidism on body composition parameters in children

Abstract

Background It's known that overt hypothyroidism increases body fat content and weight. There's limited research about the effect of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) on body composition in children and the effect of LT4 treatment. We aimed to evaluate body composition parameters in healthy subjects and in children with mild SH (MSH) and determine the effect of LT4 treatment. Methods Sixty‐four healthy children and 32 children with MSH were included. Anthropometric measurements and hormonal parameters were evaluated. Body composition was evaluated using bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA). Patients were put on LT4 treatment. BIA was performed again after 12 months of therapy. Results There was no significant difference between the anthropometric parameters and basal metabolic rate of the healthy children and the MSH group. The percentage of trunk muscle mass (TMM) in the MSH group was lower than in the control group (P < .05). After 12 months of LT4 treatment, the percentage of total fat‐free mass (FFM), TMM and trunk fat‐free mass (TFFM) were increased and percentage of total body fat mass and trunk fat mass were decreased (P < .05). The difference between the percentage of TMM in the MSH group and control group was insignificant after LT4 treatment (P > .05). Conclusions The percentage of TMM in children with MSH was found lower than healthy control group. After LT4 treatment, the percentage of the FFM, TMM and TFFM were increased and the difference between percentage of TMM in children with MSH and healthy controls was insignificant. Our data indicated that MSH might be associated with early changes in body composition parameters.

Effects of endocrine disorders on maxillary and mandibular growth in Colombian children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study

“…In addition, hypothyroid subjects showed increased head circumference, zygomatic width, nasal base width, intercommissural distance, cranial base length, and maxillary and mandibular length. These findings accord with those reported by Gunes et al ( 2020 ), which suggest that hypothyroid individuals could present early changes in body composition parameters. In contrast, our results diverge from those of Vucic et al ( 2017 ), who reported an association between hypothyroidism and decreased maxillary and mandibular growth, which could result in teeth impaction or delayed tooth eruption (Wassner 2017 ).…”

“…Some studies also indicate a relationship between overweight/obesity and bone growth stimulation (Dimitri 2019 ; Zhu 2017 ). Our findings on craniofacial growth at peak growth in patients with overweight/obesity are in agreement with other investigations, which reported a more sagittal position of pogonion, leading to prognathism (Danze et al 2020 ), an increased longitudinal facial length (Cuccia et al 2007 ), and early eruption in both dentitions (Sánchez et al 2010 ). Finally, zygomatic width was significantly smaller in non-syndromic hypogrowth patients than in healthy subjects, which aligns with the findings from Attanasio and Shalet ( 2007 ) and Oliveira-Neto et al ( 2011 ).…”

“…Moreover, head circumference and interlabial-menton circumference in girls with medicated hypothyroidism were significantly lower than in healthy women, while no differences were observed in males. In contrast, overweight and obese patients showed significantly increased measurements than controls, indicating that the peak growth in these individuals obese patients occurs earlier, as has been shown previously (Danze et al 2020 ). Finally, girls with non-syndromic hypogrowth presented significantly decreased head circumference, while boys showed a decreased zygomatic (facial) width.…”

Thyroid disfunction and obesity - what comes first? A complex relationship between hypothyroidism and weight gain

“…Body composition is usually evaluated by using BIA (bioelectric impedance analysis), which calculates total body water (TBW) and fat-free body mass (FFM) without causing any fluid or electrolyte abnormalities [26,27]. Hypothyroidism is characterized by an increase in body fat, besides a relatively unaffected lean body mass component [28].…”