Inverse Association Between Hypothalamic N-Acetyl Aspartate/Creatine Ratio and Indices of Body Mass in Adolescents with Obesity.

Background: Approximately 10% of adolescents worldwide are overweight or obese, hence the urgent and universal need to elucidate possible mechanisms that lead to obesity in the adolescent population.

Objectives: We examined the hypothalamic metabolism and its relationship with physical development in obese and eutrophic adolescents.

Methods: We performed a case-control study with 115 adolescents between 11 and 18 years of age, to compare obese (BMI z-score ≥ 2) and nonobese individuals (eutrophic controls; BMI z-score ≤ 1).