Relationship of Serum Leptin Level with Chronological Age and Body Mass Index in Adolescent Girls (original) (raw)
International Journal of Obesity, 1997
OBJECTIVE: Leptin, the product of the ob gene, is present in higher concentrations in blood of obese subjects than of lean subjects. There is scarce information on the role of leptin in the pathogenesis of human obesity and little is known about leptin serum levels in obese children. DESIGN, SUBJECTS AND MEASUREMENTS: To evaluate the in¯uences of age, sex, pubertal development and weight excess on serum leptin levels, we have studied 390 obese subjects (OS) and 320 normal weight subjects (NWS) aged 5±16 y. Fasting insulin concentrations were assayed in NWS, and an oral glucose tolerance test was carried out in OS and total insulin area under the curve (TIA) was calculated. RESULTS: Log-transformed values of leptin serum concentrations appeared to be distributed according to an acceptable Gaussian pattern. As observed in adults, serum leptin concentrations in children and adolescents were also increased (4±5 times) in OS as compared to NWS. In both males and females, subdivided according to pubertal stages, serum leptin varied signi®cantly in stage IV±V as compared to the lower stages, with a reduction in males and an increase in females. On comparing the two sexes, greater serum leptin concentrations were observed in females of both NWS and OS. A signi®cant linear correlation was found in both groups, subdivided according to sex and pubertal stage, between log values of serum leptin and standard deviation scores (SDS) of body mass index (BMI), and logtransformed relative body weight (RBW). Using partial correlation analysis in subjects subdivided according to sex and pubertal stages, log values of serum leptin and fasting insulin values, adjusted by age and SDS of BMI, correlated signi®cantly with a weaker correlation in males than in females. In OS, the leptin concentrations correlated better with TIA than with fasting insulin. A weight reduction program (WRP) was carried out in 141 OS and signi®cant reductions of serum leptin and fasting insulin were observed, showing a reduction of RBW. There was a correlation between the reduction of RBW and of serum leptin, but not of fasting insulin. No variation was found in non-responsive OS. RBW reduction correlated with leptin, but not with insulin (fasting and TIA), evaluated before the therapeutic program started. CONCLUSION: As observed in adults, obese children and adolescents have higher serum leptin concentrations. However, several conditions should be taken into account when evaluating leptin concentrations in children. There are differences, independent of BMI, relative to pubertal stage and sex, females having greater leptin concentrations than males. There is evidence of a possible role for leptin in the effectiveness of a weight reduction program in OS.
2011
The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between leptin serum levels, body mass index and certain parameters of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in children and adolescents with various degree of obesity. We assessed 86 children and adolescents (45 boys and 41 girls) between 6 and 18 years of age within the Ist Pediatric Clinic from Târgu Mure ; 68.60% of the children were overweight, 29.07% had class I obesity and 2.33% had class II obesity. Leptin serum levels were measured and compared with BMI, age and parameters of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism (blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol). Leptin serum levels were increased in all overweight and obese adolescents: we found leptin serum levels of 45.69 ± 28.04 ng/mL in boys, and significantly higher values (72.96 ± 22.02 ng/mL) in girls. These values were positively correlated with BMI (r = 0,34 in boys and r = 0,44 in girls). A positive correlation was found between leptin, ...
2004
The rising epidemic worldwide in overweight and obese children requires urgent attention. Leptin has been found to be associated with body weight control and possibly affects insulin sensitivity. Since insulin resistance is associated with obesity in adults and possibly in adolescents, we set out to investigate the association of plasma leptin level with various anthropometric indices, body fat mass (FM), lipids, and insulin resistance (IR) index in nondiabetic adolescents. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study from three high schools in Taipei City in Taiwan. SUBJECTS: A total of 402 nondiabetic subjects (162 boys and 240 girls; age range, 10-19 y; mean age, 15.871.9 y, and mean body mass index (BMI), 24.874.6 kg/m 2 ) were recruited. MEASUREMENTS: The fasting plasma leptin, plasma glucose, insulin, lipids, and anthropometric indices including height, weight, waist (WC) and hip circumferences, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were examined. Total body FM and percentage body fat (FM%) were obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The homeostasis model was applied to estimate the degree of IR. RESULTS: The plasma leptin levels were significantly higher in girls (17.45710.13 ng/ml) than boys (8.8176.71 ng/ml, Po0.001). The plasma leptin levels were positively correlated to BMI, WC, WHR, FM, FM%, and triglycerides (TG). The IR index was positively correlated to BMI, WC, WHR, FM, FM%, TG, and leptin. Using the multivariate linear regression models, we found that plasma leptin remains significantly associated with IR index even after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, FM, WC, Tanner stage, and TG. CONCLUSION: Plasma leptin was associated with IR index independent of age, gender, BMI, FM, WC, Tanner stage, and TG. Plasma leptin levels in adolescents could be a predictor for the development of the metabolic syndrome disorders and cardiovascular diseases.
Serum leptin levels in overweight children and adolescents
British Journal of Nutrition, 2009
Leptin is an adipocyte-secreted hormone which plays a key role in energy homeostasis. Our aim was to determine the relationship between serum leptin and clinical and biochemical features in overweight children and adolescents. Overweight children and adolescents followed in this Unit with serum leptin ascertained were included. Clinical, biochemical and abdominal ultrasound data were analysed. Statistical analysis was performed by t test, X2. Pearson's correlation and linear regression. One outlier of serum leptin was excluded to perform correlation and regression. Serum leptin was determined in 357 patients. At the first visit, the mean age was 9-5 (so 3.2) years and mean BMI z-score was 1.72 (so 1-34) (girls 1.71 (So 1-16); boys 1.72 ). Serum leptin levels were significantly related to: sex (mean: girls 48.0 ng/ml, boys 34-4 ng/ml; P=0.003); Tanner stage (mean: I-IE 37-0ng/ml, III-V 45-2nglml; P=0.035); systolic blood pressure (mean: normal 41.3ng/ml. high 44-0ng/ml; P=0.009); BMI z-score (r 0-136: P=0-010); C-peptide (r 0-17: P=0-002); insulin (r 0-34; P<0-001); homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (r 0-25; P<0.001) and aspartate aminotransferase (r -0-12; P=0-023). In the multivariate analysis (with leptin as the dependent variable and sex. Tanner stage, BMI z-score, systolic blood pressure, aspartate aminotransferase. C-peptide. insulin and HOMA-IR as independent variables), sex and BMI were determinant factors. The present study in overweight children and adolescents showed that being female and greater BMI were significantly and independently associated with increased -erum leptin. In this large cohort other associations with leptin described in the literature can be discharged.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1997
It is commonly accepted that at least in girls puberty starts when a minimum level of body mass or a certain amount of body fat are present. However the precise signal by which adipose stores inform the hypothalamus of the degree of energetic reserves is unknown. Leptin is a hormone produced by the adipocytes to regulate food intake and energy expenditure at the hypothalamic level. To understand whether leptin is the adipose tissue signal that allows puberty, 789 normal children of both sexes, age 5-15 yr, were transversally studied. Leptin levels, as well as gonadal and gonadotropins levels, were analyzed in addition to the determination of auxological parameters. In an age-related analysis, leptin levels in girls rose from 5-15 yr (from 4.3 Ϯ 0.4 to 8.5 Ϯ 0.9 g/L) in parallel with body weight. Boys always had lower leptin levels than girls (3.3 Ϯ 0.3 g/L at 5 yr), but they rose in parallel with weight until 10 yr (5.3 Ϯ 0.7 g/L), when a striking decrease was observed until 15 yr (3.0 Ϯ 0.3 g/L). In girls, leptin was the first hormone to rise followed by FSH and later by LH
Serum leptin through childhood and adolescence
Clinical Endocrinology, 1997
OBJECTIVE Leptin is the protein product of the recently cloned ob gene, that has been implicated in the control of body weight and thermogenesis, but also independently stimulates the reproductive axis. As major changes in body composition and gonadal function occur during human adolescence, we have assessed serum leptin concentration through childhood. SUBJECTS AND MEASUREMENTS Serum leptin was measured in a radioimmunoassay in samples from 235 healthy children from 5 to 18 years of age. Its relationship to body mass index (BMI) (expressed as standard deviation score (SDS)) and the changes in concentration both within and between sexes over the stages of puberty were analysed. RESULTS Serum leptin was present at similar concentrations in both sexes over the prepubertal years and increased in parallel into early puberty (breast stage (B) 2, genital stage (G) 2). Thereafter serum leptin in the boys declined to a nadir in G5. In contrast in girls, leptin remained constant in mid-puberty rising to a peak at B5. Factors influencing leptin (BMI SDS, age and testicular volume) were assessed therefore in the pre-and peripubertal stages (B1-2, G1-2) compared to the later pubertal stages (B3-5, G3-5). In all groups, leptin was positively correlated to BMI SDS (r 2 ¼ 38-41% in girls, r 2 ¼ 31-35% in boys). However in B1-2 and G1-2, leptin was also positively related to age, which contributed a further 27% and 20% respectively to the variability. In B3-5, age only accounted for an additional 5% in leptin variability. In contrast in G3-5, leptin was related positively to BMI SDS (r 2 ¼ 35%) and negatively to testicular volume (r 2 ¼ 24%). CONCLUSIONS The influence of BMI on leptin is a significant factor throughout the prepubertal and pubertal years of both sexes. The additional negative effect of testicular volume in the boys contributes to the sexual dichotomy in leptin concentration at the completion of puberty. The similar rise in leptin over the prepubertal years into early puberty in both sexes, related not only to BMI SDS but also independently to age, would suggest that leptin may have a facilitatory role in human pubertal development.
Metabolism, 1998
Leptin has been demonstrated to reflect body fat mass (FM) in humans, but the regulation of leptin levels during childhood growth and development is poorly understood. We studied the relation between plasma leptin, fasting insulin, insulin sensitivity, and resting energy expenditure in 22 healthy prepubertal children and 27 adolescents. Body composition was assessed by the H2(18)O-dilution principle, insulin sensitivity by a hyperinsulinemic (40 mU/m2/min)-euglycemic clamp, and energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry. Plasma leptin in prepubertal children (9.3 +/- 2.0 ng/mL) was not different from that in pubertal adolescents (10.9 +/- 2.2 ng/mL). Plasma leptin correlated with FM (r = .77, P < .001). There were no gender differences in leptin after controlling for FM differences. In prepubertal and pubertal subjects, plasma leptin correlated with fasting insulin independently of FM (r = .60, P < .001), but did not correlate with insulin sensitivity independently of body fat content. Leptin showed no relationship to resting energy expenditure after adjusting for body composition. The present cross-sectional evaluation of normal children shows that (1) plasma leptin reflects body fat content, (2) leptin concentrations are similar between prepubertal children and pubertal adolescents, (3) there are no gender differences in leptin independent of adiposity, and (4) leptin correlates with fasting insulin but not with insulin sensitivity. Contrary to animal data, our cross-sectional results in healthy children do not suggest a role for leptin in puberty or a female-related leptin resistance as reported in adults. It remains to be determined at which stage of human development the sexual dimorphism in leptin becomes evident.
EFFECT OF BODY MASS INDEX ON SERUM LEPTIN LEVELS
Background: Leptin is product of ob gene, an adipose tissue derived hormone that plays a key role in the regulation of body fat mass by regulating appetite and metabolism while balancing energy intake and energy expenditure. The objective of the study was to evaluate possible association between serum leptin levels and Body Mass Index (BMI) of gender in adult age group. Methods: Two-hundredseventy subjects aged 20-50 years were randomly selected from general population of Abbottabad. The subjects were grouped on the basis on BMI (89 normal, 92 overweight, and 89 obese). After complete evaluation, demographic data was recorded and BMI. Non-fasting venous blood samples were drawn to measure serum leptin and serum glucose levels. The data were analysed using SPSS-15 calculating mean, percentage, independent t-test and chi-square test. Correlation and regression curve analysis were obtained, and p and r values were calculated. Results: Serum leptin levels and differences between genders were significant in all body mass indices. For normal BMI group the mean values for leptin were 2.6±1.5 ηg/ml in men, and 17.3±10.2 ηg/ml for women. For Group-2 mean leptin levels in men were 9.9±6.8 ηg/ml and in women were 34.8±13.6 ηg/ml. For Group-3 BMI comprising obese subjects mean values for men were 21.3±14.2 ηg/ml and for women were 48.21±21.2 ηg/ml (p<0.001). Conclusion: A progressive increase in serum leptin concentration was observed with an increase in BMI. Significant difference between leptin concentrations in either gender was found in normal, overweight and obese subjects.
Effect of Variations in Body Mass Index on Serum Leptin Levels in
2016
Objective: To measure the serum leptin and insulin levels and assess that how body mass index and affects these levels in pre and post menopausal obese and non-obese women. Place and duration of study: It was a comparative study. Sampling was done from various Hospitals, organizations and residential areas. The experimental work was carried out at the department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Center for Research in Experimental and Applied Medicine-1 (CREAM-1), NUST, Rawalpindi, Pakistan and was spread on duration of 18 months. Methodology: The samples for the study were obtained from healthy eighty subjects & divided into premenopausal and postmenopausal groups of 40 each which were further sub-divided into obese and non obese based on the body mass index (cutoff BMI value = 25 kg/m). Fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, serum Insulin and serum leptin were measured along with BMI and HOMA IR. Data was analyzed for frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation ( ± S...
Serum Leptin Concentrations in Caucasian and African-American Girls
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 1998
Because African-American girls are heavier, taller, and mature earlier than Caucasian girls, we hypothesized that the serum leptin concentration differs between the two groups. Serum leptin concentrations were measured by immunoassay in 12-h fasted blood samples collected from 79 Caucasian and 57 African-American girls between 8 and 17 yr of age. Body composition was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, sexual maturity by physical examination, and physical fitness by treadmill testing. Serum leptin concentrations were positively correlated (P Ͻ 0.01) with maturation, body fatness, and insulin and were higher (6.6 ng/mL, P Ͻ 0.01) in the African-American girls after adjusting for age. The difference remained significant (P Ͻ 0.01) but was reduced to 3.2 ng/mL after controlling for differences in maturation, fat mass, and physical fitness. The higher serum leptin levels might play an important role in the accelerated growth and sexual maturation of African-American girls.
European Journal of Endocrinology, 1998
The ob protein, termed leptin, is produced by adipocytes and is thought to act as an afferent satiety signal regulating weight through suppressing appetite and stimulating energy expenditure in humans and/or rodents. Insulin has been found to be a potent stimulator of leptin expression in rodents. It is unclear at present whether this insulin action is a direct or an indirect effect. To investigate whether leptin concentrations in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (IDDM) were related to metabolic status, body weight, body mass index and insulin treatment, we have measured leptin concentrations in serum from 13 newly diagnosed IDDM patients before the beginning of insulin treatment (8 girls, 5 boys, aged 4.7-17.5 years) and in 134 patients with IDDM during treatment (64 girls, 70 boys, aged 2.6-20.1 years) using a specific radioimmunoassay. The data from patients with diabetes were compared with normative data that were derived from a large cohort of healthy children and adolescents. Serum from children with newly diagnosed diabetes had significantly lower levels of leptin (mean 1.28+/-1.60 ng/ml, range 0.14-6.13 ng/ml) compared with healthy children (n=710) (mean 2.2 ng/ml, range 0.26-14.4ng/ml) and compared with insulin-treated children and adolescents (mean 5.18+/-5.48 ng/ml, range 0.26-29.77 ng/ml) (P&amp;lt;0.0001) even after adjustment for gender and body mass index (BMI). Serum leptin levels in patients with IDDM were significantly correlated with BMI (r=0.42, P&amp;lt;0.0001). Multiple regression analysis showed that age and BMI were significantly correlated with leptin levels, while duration of diabetes, mean HbA1c levels, insulin dose and plasma glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels were not. Females had higher serum leptin concentrations than males even when adjusted for BMI (P&amp;lt;0.0001). Surprisingly and most importantly, leptin levels in insulin-treated young adult (Tanner stage 5) patients were significantly higher than values found in the healthy nondiabetic reference population when adjusted for sex, Tanner stage and BMI. These findings suggest that leptin levels in IDDM patients show a similar dependency on adipose tissue and age as in healthy, normal children. The data provide evidence that insulin may be of importance as a regulator of serum leptin levels in vivo not only in rodents but also in humans. It is hypothesized that the elevated BMI-adjusted leptin levels in adolescents with IDDM could indicate either that these patients may be oversubstituted by the intensified insulin therapy that they are receiving or that their body composition and body fat content may differ from that of healthy adolescents in the sense that they have a relative increase in fat mass.
Influence of Serum Leptin on Weight and Body Fat Growth in Children at High Risk for Adult Obesity
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2007
Objective-Our objective was to examine serum leptin prospectively as a predictor of weight and body fat growth in children at high risk for adult obesity. We hypothesized that leptin measurements would be positively associated with increased growth of adipose tissue because children with high baseline leptin for their body fat mass have greater leptin resistance and thus would have greater susceptibility to weight gain.
Serum Leptin Levels Correlate with Growth Hormone Secretion and Body Fat in Children
2010
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among GH secretion, leptin concentrations, and body composition measured with x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in children. In total, 71 children were investigated, 51 males and 20 females. Their mean chronological age was 10.8 yr (range, 6.2-17.7 ys), and their mean height (SD) was Ϫ2.1 (0.63) SD scores. Their mean weight for height SD scores (WH SDS ) was 0.2 (1.18). Body composition was investigated using DXA. Blood samples were taken for analysis of leptin, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-3, and 24-h GH secretion. A positive correlation was found between leptin and total body fat (r ϭ 0.83; P Ͻ 0.0001) and when fat was expressed as a percentage of body weight (r ϭ 0.86; P Ͻ 0.0001). There were significant (P Ͻ 0.0001) relationships between leptin and WH SDS (r ϭ 0.45) and between leptin and body mass index (r ϭ 0.69). A significant gender difference in leptin levels was found, but this disappeared after adjustment for body fat, as measured by DXA. There were significant (P Ͻ 0.001) inverse correlations between leptin and the AUC b for GH (r ϭϪ0.41), leptin,
Serum Leptin Levels Correlate with Growth Hormone Secretion and Body Fat in Children 1
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 1999
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among GH secretion, leptin concentrations, and body composition measured with x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in children. In total, 71 children were investigated, 51 males and 20 females. Their mean chronological age was 10.8 yr (range, 6.2-17.7 ys), and their mean height (SD) was Ϫ2.1 (0.63) SD scores. Their mean weight for height SD scores (WH SDS ) was 0.2 (1.18). Body composition was investigated using DXA. Blood samples were taken for analysis of leptin, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-3, and 24-h GH secretion. A positive correlation was found between leptin and total body fat (r ϭ 0.83; P Ͻ 0.0001) and when fat was expressed as a percentage of body weight (r ϭ 0.86; P Ͻ 0.0001). There were significant (P Ͻ 0.0001) relationships between leptin and WH SDS (r ϭ 0.45) and between leptin and body mass index (r ϭ 0.69). A significant gender difference in leptin levels was found, but this disappeared after adjustment for body fat, as measured by DXA. There were significant (P Ͻ 0.001) inverse correlations between leptin and the AUC b for GH (r ϭϪ0.41), leptin,
2008
Leptin is thought to signal energy stores, thus helping the body balance energy intake and expenditure. However, the strong relationship between leptin and adiposity in populations with adequate nutrition or common obesity is not universal across ecologic contexts, and leptin often correlates only weakly, or not at all, with adiposity in populations of lean or marginally-nourished males. To clarify whether the relationship between adiposity and leptin changes during development, this study examines leptin and body fat among children and adolescents of lowland Bolivia. Anthropometric measures of body composition and dried blood spot samples were collected from 487 Tsimane' ranging from 2 to 15 years of age. Leptin was assayed using an enzyme immunoassay protocol validated for use with blood spot samples. In this population, leptin concentrations were among the lowest reported in a human population (mean 6 SD: 1.26 6 0.5 and 0.57 6 0.3 in females and males). In addition, the relationship between leptin and adiposity follows distinct developmental trajectories in males and females. In males, leptin is weakly correlated with most measures of body composition at all ages investigated. However, in females, the level of body fat and the strength of the correlation between body fat and leptin (a measure of its strength as a signal of energy stores) both increase markedly with age. These findings suggest a more important role of leptin as a signal of energy stores among females as they approach reproductive maturity, while raising questions about the function of this hormone in lean males. Am.
Assessment of Serum Leptin Levels in Different Categories of Body Mass Index
2016
Objective: To assess leptin concentrations in different categories of Body Mass Index (BMI) in a sample of local population of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Study design: Observational study. Place & Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Hospital, Rawalpindi, 2009-2010 (8 months). Materials and Methods: Fasting serum leptin concentrations were measured in 100 healthy obese, overweight and non-obese individuals aged 20-50 years, including both sexes. ELISA test was done for serum leptin assay. For each statistical analysis SPSS version 15 was used. The mean, standard deviation, ranges p-values and r-values. were calculated for statistical inference Results: Serum leptin concentrations were strongly associated with sex and the body mass index. Serum leptin level was found comparatively higher in women, in same category of BMI, (mean-64.4 ng/ml, obese group) than in men (mean-40.4 ng/ml, obese group). The mean serum leptin concentration in non-obese...
Leptin levels and body composition in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes
Clinical Biochemistry, 2006
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between serum leptin levels and body composition and to evaluate the variables related to disease in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. We studied 49 diabetic patients aged 6-16 years (age: 11.2 ± 2.9 years, M/F: 26/23), and 37 healthy controls. Body composition was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum leptin, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), free thyroxin, thyrotropin, testosterone and estradiol levels were measured in patients and controls. We did not observe significant difference in serum leptin levels between patients and controls. Girls had significantly higher serum leptin levels than boys in both patient and control groups. Serum leptin levels did not correlate significantly with HbA1c, disease duration or daily insulin dose but, correlated positively with body mass index (BMI) and fat mass (FM) in patients as in controls. Body composition in diabetic girls and boys was similar with respective controls. When analyzed by pubertal stage, BMI, lean body mass (LBM), FM, and total bone mineral density (BMD) were significantly higher in pubertal girls with type 1 diabetes compared to prepubertal ones. In pubertal boys with type 1 diabetes, LBM and FM were significantly higher than prepubertal ones. The results of the present study showed that neither serum leptin levels nor body composition was significantly altered in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes managed with intensive insulin therapy.
Journal of physiology and pharmacology : an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society, 2011
Decreased physical activity is undoubtedly significantly associated with obesity. Similarly, the proper hormones secretion, the proper weight and body development. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body mass composition and leptin concentration in relation to the degree of physical activity expressed in MET-h/week (metabolic equivalent per week). The study included 59 girls, aged 9-16 years (12.55±1.67) and divided into two groups: 1) PA: a physically active group of 29 girls and 2) PI: a group of 30 physically inactive girls. In all, physical activity was assessed using modified questionnaire concerning "activity for adolescents" and expressed in MET-h/week. Serum blood leptin concentrations in fasting girls were determined by RIA. Anthropometric parameters were measured and fatness indices calculated (BMI, SF, WHtR). Body composition (%BF, FM, FFM) was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis method (BIA). Statistical analysis showe...
International Journal of Obesity, 2014
on behalf of the IDEFICS consortium OBJECTIVE: To establish age-and sex-specific reference values for serum leptin and adiponectin in normal-weight 3.0-8.9-year old European children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Blood samples for hormone analysis were taken from 1338 children of the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary-and lifestyle-induced health Effects in Children and infantS) study cohort. Only normal-weight children aged 3.0-8.9 years were included (n = 539) in our analysis. Using the General Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape, age-and sex-specific percentiles were derived. The influence of under/overweight and obesity on the proposed reference curves based on normal-weight children was investigated in several sensitivity analyses using the sample without obese children (n = 1015) and the whole study sample (n = 1338). RESULTS: There was a negative age trend of adiponectin blood levels and a positive trend of leptin levels in boys and girls. Percentiles derived for girls were generally higher than those obtained for boys. The corresponding age-specific differences of the 97th percentile ranged from − 2.2 to 4.6 μg ml − 1 and from 2.2 to 4.8 ng ml − 1 for adiponectin and leptin, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to our knowledge, these are the first reference values of leptin and adiponectin in prepubertal, normal-weight children. The presented adiponectin and leptin reference curves may allow for a more differentiated interpretation of children's hormone levels in epidemiological and clinical studies.