Serum magnesium in overweight children.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether overweight children and adolescents have lower serum concentration and lower dietary intake of magnesium compared to those with normal weight; and to study the correlation of serum magnesium levels with components of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. DESIGN Cross-sectional, comparative study. SETTING General/Pediatric Endocrinolgy OPD tertiary care medical centre. Study done from July 2007 to March 2009 PARTICIPANTS 55 overweight and 53 normal weight children and adolescents aged 4 years to 14 years. METHODS We compared fasting levels of serum magnesium, insulin, glucose, total and HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and dietary magnesium intake. RESULTS The serum magnesium levels were significantly lower in overweight (2.12 ±; 0.33 mg/dL) compared to normal weight group (2.56 ± 0.24 mg/dL, P<0.001), while the dietary intake of magnesium (adjusted for calorie intake) was higher in overweight group (0.20 ± 0.06 mg/kcal) compared to normal weight (0.17 ± 0.05 mg/kcal; P= 0.005). Serum magnesium levels were inversely correlated with body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference and fasting insulin levels. CONCLUSIONS Serum magnesium levels were significantly lower in overweight children compared to those with normal weight in spite of a higher dietary intake.