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Childhood overweight and obesity--especially among migrant children--are health problems in several European countries. The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among 936 migrant boys of low socio-economic status from Turkey and former Yugoslavia were compared with those of Austrian boys in Vienna. In the longitudinal study, children were measured at the ages of 6, 10 and 15 years. Weight status was estimated by means of the body mass index and percentile curves were used for weight status classification. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was high among migrant boys as well as Austrian boys at all age groups. Ten-year-old boys from Yugoslavia exhibited the highest percentage of overweight (nearly 38%). The lowest percentage of overweight was among 6-year-old Austrian boys (17.2%). Being overweight or obese at the age of 6 years increased the risk of being overweight at 10 and 15 years significantly (p

Objective To document body composition and fat patterning characteristics in normal and underweight infertile women. Design Status quo method. Setting University clinics. Patient(s) Fifteen amenorrheic women with anorexia nervosa, 16 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO2), 10 women with primary amenorrhea and 19 healthy controls. Intervention(s) None. Main outcome measure(s) Determination of body mass index, body composition parameters such as fat mass, lean body mass, bone mass using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), fat distribution patterns, 17β-estradiol, FSH, LH, prolactin, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S, and androstenedione levels. Result(s) A statistically significant difference was found comparing all proband groups with healthy controls for the majority of body fat and bone mineral content parameters but not for lean body mass. Infertile women of normal weight, with PCOS, and with primary amenorrhea exhibited an extraordinarily high amount of fat tissue and a tendency toward android fat patterning. In contrast, patients with anorexia nervosa and the healthy controls showed predominantly gynoid fat patterning. According to logistic regression analyses, anorexia nervosa was characterized by reduced fat tissue and PCOS was characterized by android fat patterning and an increased fat percentage. Patients with primary amenorrhea were characterized by reduced bone mass. Conclusion(s) Infertile young women showed characteristic differences in body composition and fat distribution patterns when compared with healthy, fertile, age-matched counterparts.

Objectives: In the present study the association between menstrual and reproductive history patterns and weight status, fat distribution and body composition during postmenopause was tested. Methods: In 106 healthy postmenopausal women ranging in age from 48 to 58 years (x=53.7 year) the weight status was classified according to the recommendations of the WHO. Additionally body composition was estimated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and fat distribution was calculated using the fat distribution index. Weight status, body composition and fat distribution were correlated with self-reported parameters of menstrual and reproductive history (age at menarche, average cycle length, number of births, age at first and last birth, average pregnancy weight gain, age at menopause). Results: It was shown that number of births, age at first birth and pregnancy weight gain were related significantly to the postmenopausal weight status, body composition and fat distribution. Conclusion: An early first birth a low number of births and a high weight gain during pregnancies can be assumed as risk factors for overweight, a higher amount of adipose tissue, android fat patterning and therefore for the development of the metabolic syndrome during postmenopause. In contrast no adverse effect of menstrual and reproductive parameters on postmenopausal bone mass was found.

Objectives: This study was carried out to assess the effect of topical androgen replacement therapy on body weight, body composition and fat distribution in postmenopausal women. Methods: 39 healthy postmenopausal women (51.4±2.24 years), with increasing body weight, were prospectively studied for 6 months. Body composition (fat mass, kg, %) was measured by means of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Hormonal and lipid parameters were also measured. Subjects were divided into two groups. An androgen gel (group A) or placebo gel (group P) was topically administered to the abdominal and gluteo-femoral regions. DXA was performed before commencement of topical treatment and after 6 months. Results: A highly significant total body weight reduction was found in group A (68.0±13.1 to 65.4±11.8 kg). Abdominal fat (37.3±11.2 to 35.1±9.7%), gluteo-femoral fat (46.3±6.6 to 45.4±7.7%), total body fat (38.2±7.9 to 36.1±8.6%) and BMI (24.8±4.3 to 23.7±3.8) were also found to have decreased significantly in this group. No significant reduction in body weight (kg) and body fat (%) could be measured in the placebo group. No influence on lipid parameters was found although total testosterone increased significantly in group A (0.29±0.24 to 0.72±0.17 ng/ml). Conclusions: Topically applied androgen is capable of reducing abdominal fat accumulations as well as total body weight in postmenopausal women with unexplained weight gain. In contrast to systemic androgen application, topical administration has no effect on the lipid profile. Gluteal fat, however, is less effectively influenced by androgens.

Objective: To assess the effect of oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on body weight, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and GH response to exogenous GnRH in women with premature ovarian failure (POF). Design: Controlled clinical study. Setting: Outpatients studied in the department of endocrinology of the University Hospital in Vienna. Patient(s): Twenty-four women with POF (study group) and 24 volunteers with normal ovarian cycles (control group). Intervention(s): Pituitary GnRH stimulation was performed in all women at study entry and in patients with POF after 1, 6, and 12 months of standard oral HRT. Blood samples were collected from 15 minutes before to 120 minutes after GnRH administration. Body weight also was evaluated. Result(s): No differences in baseline and stimulated serum GH were found either between POF women and controls or in POF women during HRT. Women with POF without HRT had significantly higher IGF-I levels; a reduction in circulating IGF-I levels occurred during HRT. Body weight remained stable. Conclusion(s): Our results show the following: [1] Women with POF have similar GH secretion patterns as healthy age-matched women; [2] physiologic HRT has no impact on GnRH-induced GH stimulation; and [3] HRT has no impact on body weight in women with POF.

Objectives: The relationship between body build, androgen levels and changes in sexual interest after menopause was investigated in 171 postmenopausal women from Vienna, Austria. Methods: All women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Body build was determined by employing five absolute body dimensions and four anthropometric indices. Results: Body weight, as well as the amount of subcutaneous centripetal fat (such as in the chest, waist and hip region), were statistically significantly related to the degree of reduced sexual interest. Corpulent and heavy women suffered far more frequently from a severe decrease in sexual interest after menopause. Statistically significant associations between androgen levels and decrease in sexual interest could not be demonstrated. Conclusions: Reduced sexual interest is associated with a kin 1 of body type not corresponding to the culture-specific beauty ideals of our society, first of all evident in women whose menopause occurred relatively early.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of a continous estrogen, cyclic progesterone replacement therapy on the secretion of growth hormone (GH) and IGF I as well as of somatometric-GH correlation patterns. Methods: The study included 23 healthy postmenopausal women. Of the proband group 13 randomly selected women were treated with orally applicated 2 mg estradiol-valerat (E2V) and 10 mg dydrogesterone for 10 months. Ten women did not receive any hormonal treatment during this time. After 10 months all probands were reexamined and their GH and IGF I secretion, as well as their somatometric-hormonal correlation patterns, compared with those of a fertile control group. Results: It could be shown, that in postmenopausal women a 10-month oral hormone replacement therapy led to a significant increase of GH- and IGF I levels, however, the treated postmenopausal women did not reach the levels of the fertile controls. Those women who did not receive any hormonal treatment and the postmenopausal women before HRT showed nearly identical GH- and IGF I levels as well as somatometric-GH correlation patterns. Conclusions: The results of the present paper indicate a marked influence of estrogens on GH and IGF I secretion. Furthermore, hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) may influence somatometric GH correlation patterns too.