University (Medical sciences),

Objective: To evaluate the frequency and patterns of dyslipidemia in overweight and obese children and to determine the extent of blood lipid abnormality in overweight and obese children. Methods: A prospective matched case control study on 230 overweight and obese children and adolescents (body mass index [BMI] 85th percentile) aged 4 to 18 years undertaken at the outpatient endocrine clinic of the Childrens ’ Hospital at Tabriz University between 2006–2008. This study was conducted to compare the frequency of abnormal plasma lipid levels in overweight and obese children compared with 50 nonobese children (BMI = 50th–85th percentile). Results: The total frequency of dyslipidemia was 69.58%. The prevalence of dyslipidemia increased with severity of obesity and reached 76.9 % in the severely obese (P 0.005). High triglycerides was the most common dyslipidemia in combination (26.08%) and in isolation (18.6%). There was a significant difference in mean of triglycerides between the severely obese and other groups (P 0.004). Conclusion: In the present study, dyslipidemia is more common in severely obese children and the most common component of dyslipidemia is a high triglyceride level