Association between the DNA methylations of POMC, MC4R, and HNF4A and metabolic profiles in the blood of children aged 7–9 years

Table 1 General characteristics of the normal weight and overweight and obese children

Characteristics	Normal weight children (n = 79)	Overweight and obese children (n = 41)
Characteristics	Mean ± SD or N (%)	Mean ± SD or N (%)	p
Children features
Age (years)	7.03 ± 0.16	8.24 ± 0.83	< 0.001
Gender (male, n)	39 (49.4%)	21 (51.2%)	0.85
Height (cm)	123.98 ± 5.46	134.06 ± 6.68	< 0.001
Weight (kg)	24.14 ± 3.94	38.32 ± 7.03	< 0.001
BMI(kg/m²)	15.61 ± 1.22	21.47 ± 1.83	< 0.001
Waist circumference(cm)	53.56 ± 3.98	69.84 ± 7.55	< 0.001
Blood metabolic profiles^{*, ‡}
TG (mg/dL) ^a	58.26 ± 1.61	79.18 ± 1.53	< 0.001
TC (mg/dL)	159.56 ± 24.93	165.22 ± 19.34	< 0.001
HDL-c (mg/dL)	61.89 ± 12.00	56.22 ± 9.94	< 0.001
Insulin (μU/mL) ^a	6.96 ± 1.27	10.80 ± 1.39	0.03
Glucose (mg/dL)	77.94 ± 6.35	78.22 ± 5.72	< 0.001
HOMA^‡	1.36 ± 0.42	2.22 ± 0.92	< 0.001

p values in children features were calculated using the Student t-test and ^‡p values in metabolic profiles were calculated using ANCOVA adjusted for age*
^aTG and insulin levels were analyzed as log-transformed values and results are presented as back-transformed means
TG triglyceride, TC total cholesterol, HDL–c high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HOMA homeostasis model assessment

ISSN: 1471-2431