An observational study in Bone Development, sponsored by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 9 Years to 12 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-11.
Sponsored by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) · Observational
Obesity during adolescence, a critical time for bone development, may impair mineral accrual and reduce bone strength, leading to greater fracture risk during adolescence and later in life. This study seeks to determine the effect of obesity and accompanying metabolic changes (insulin resistance and inflammation) on bone mineral accrual and related changes in structure and strength in young girls. The information is critical to developing effective prevention strategies to counter the linked risks of obesity and osteoporosis, both major public health concerns.
The pediatric obesity epidemic continues unabated. Its cardio-metabolic complications are undisputed, including inflammation, insulin resistance (IR), glucose intolerance and greater prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in youth. We contend an equally serious consequence of these obesity co-morbidities is their detrimental effects on bone development during adolescence, a critical time for mineral accrual and architectural modeling that underlies bone strength and fracture risk. This proposition has received little attention and the sparse results are mixed, with reports of augmented and impaired mineralization. In contrast, animal data demonstrates reduced mineral accrual and compromised architecture with insulin resistance and chronic inflammation. The conflicting results in youth are likely due to mixed samples and analyses that commingle obese youth with metabolic complications with so called metabolically healthy obese youth and the use of technology (i.e., dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, DXA) to measure bone outcomes that is confounded by the very changes that investigators seek to detect. We posit that the positive mechanical effect of excess adiposity on bone is countered by chronic low-grade inflammation and IR so that obese youth with these metabolic complications suffer impaired bone development whereas obesity in otherwise metabolically healthy youth augments development. A thorough understanding of the effects of adiposity and its co-morbidities on bone development is crucial to the development of efficacious interventions aimed at maximal mineral accrual and bone modeling. Thus, we propose primary aims designed to clarify the effects of obesity, insulin resistance and inflammation on bone around the time of peak height velocity. Adipose tissue (AT) distribution undoubtedly matters, especially abdominal visceral AT and skeletal muscle fat content, both strongly related to insulin resistance. Failure to characterize fat distribution is another important limitation of past studies. Consequently we will assess the effect of visceral AT and skeletal muscle fat along with whole body fatness and propose secondary aims designed to develop safe, cost effective methods that we and others can use for estimating AT distribution, a critical component of risk that has rarely been studied in youth relative to bone development.
Primary Aims:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is the lead sponsor of 416 studies on the registry; 25 are open to participants now.
Of its 13 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 10 (77%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Girls across obese (n=150; BMI ≥95th age and gender-specific percentile), overweight (n=150; BMI> 85th percentile and \<95th percentile), and normal weight (n=150; BMI\< 85th percentile) categories.
Exclusion Criteria:
Bone development
Baseline cross-sectional (N=450) and longitudinal changes over 2 years (N=150) in bone mass, density, structure and strength, measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), as they relate to body composition by DXA and blood biomarkers of insulin resistance and inflammation.
Time frame: 2 years
This study is completed, as verified in May 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)