OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of obesity in adolescents between the age 12-19 years is 20.6%. Studies have shown that there is a relationship between albuminuria and obesity in pediatrics. Presence of microalbuminuria is an early predictor for renal and cardiovascular disease. A previous study using NHANES 1999-2004 has shown that prevalence of microalbuminuria in adolescent is 8.9% The primary objective of this study evaluated the prevalence of microalbuminuria in adolescent with or without obesity using the NHANES 2011-2016.

METHODS: This is a retrospective secondary analysis of NHANES 2011-2016 data of patients. Inclusion criteria were patients between the age of 12-19 years. Patients were excluded if they have type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, urine albumin to creatinine ratio ≥ 300mg/g, fasting glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL, HbA1c ≥ 6.5%, fasting time < 8 hours and incomplete data. Means and proportions of clinical characteristics were compared using t-test and Chi-square.

RESULTS: The study included 1316 adolescents. 22.1% (n=303) adolescents had obesity and 77.89% (n=1013) did not have obesity, p<0.001 (Chi-Square). Microalbuminuria was present in 4.24% (n=14) of adolescents with obesity and 10.77% (n=109) of adolescents without obesity, p<0.05 (Chi-Square). There was no difference in mean age between adolescents with obesity and without obesity (15.3±0.16 vs. 15.49 ±0.12, p>0.05). However, there was a higher percentage of non-Hispanic White in adolescents without obesity compared to adolescents with obesity (45.15% vs.10.47%, p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of microalbuminuria was lower in adolescents with obesity compared to those without obesity.