Trial reportDiabetes2011
Effects of metformin on body weight and body composition in obese insulin-resistant children: a randomized clinical trial.
Trial report in Diabetes, 2011. The graph read 3 numbers from its abstract, feeding 1 cell of the map: it supports the treatment in 1. It is linked to trial NCT06611501 (Glycemic Regulation as Endometriosis Adjunct Treatment), which is not on this map. Cited by 82 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
Children prescribed metformin had significantly greater decreases in BMI (difference -1.09 kg/m(2), CI -1.87 to -0.31, P = 0.006), body weight (difference -3.38 kg, CI -5.2 to -1.57, P < 0.001), BMI Z score (difference between metformin and placebo groups -0.07, CI -0.12 to -0.01, P = 0.02), and fat mass (difference -1.40 kg, CI -2.74 to -0.06, P = 0.04).
Children prescribed metformin had significantly greater decreases in BMI (difference -1.09 kg/m(2), CI -1.87 to -0.31, P = 0.006), body weight (difference -3.38 kg, CI -5.2 to -1.57, P < 0.001), BMI Z score (difference between metformin and placebo groups -0.07, CI -0.12 to -0.01, P = 0.02), and fat mass (difference -1.40 kg, CI -2.74 to -0.06, P = 0.04).
Children prescribed metformin had significantly greater decreases in BMI (difference -1.09 kg/m(2), CI -1.87 to -0.31, P = 0.006), body weight (difference -3.38 kg, CI -5.2 to -1.57, P < 0.001), BMI Z score (difference between metformin and placebo groups -0.07, CI -0.12 to -0.01, P = 0.02), and fat mass (difference -1.40 kg, CI -2.74 to -0.06, P = 0.04).
clause the extractor read what became the number
Where it lands on the map
Rows are treatments, columns are outcomes. The coloured squares are the cells this paper feeds, coloured by the vote it casts there. Click one to jump to what this paper adds to it.
What it adds to each cell
For every cell the paper feeds: the belief in the claim with and without this paper, and this paper's estimate drawn against every other readable study in the cell. The ringed dot is this paper.
Metformin×body weight & composition
SupportsOpen on the map →What to test next →19 readable studies in this cell: 8 favour the treatment, 6 find no difference, 5 favour the comparator.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Glycemic Regulation as Endometriosis Adjunct Treatment
Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 188 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of weight loss interventions on liver-related health in children and adolescents with obesity: a systematic review and meta-analyses.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Pooled it
- The Impact of Metformin on Vitamin B12 Levels in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Single-Arm Meta-Analysis.Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism · 2026Pooled it
- Pharmacological interventions for addressing pediatric and adolescent obesity: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Role of metformin in overweight and obese people without diabetes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pediatric Obesity-Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2017 · on this mapGuideline
- Drug interventions for the treatment of obesity in children and adolescents.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- A randomized controlled trial of metformin in women with components of metabolic syndrome: intervention feasibility and effects on adiposity and breast density.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2021Trial
- Two-Year Treatment With Metformin During Puberty Does Not Preserve β-Cell Function in Youth With Obesity.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2021Trial
- Effects of liraglutide, metformin and gliclazide on body composition in patients with both type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A randomized trial.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Effects of SLC22A1 Polymorphisms on Metformin-Induced Reductions in Adiposity and Metformin Pharmacokinetics in Obese Children With Insulin Resistance.Journal of clinical pharmacology · 2017Trial
- Long-term treatment with metformin in obese, insulin-resistant adolescents: results of a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial.Nutrition & diabetes · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Predictors of weight-loss response with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist treatment among adolescents with severe obesity.Clinical obesity · 2016Trial
- Pressure To Be Thin and Insulin Sensitivity Among Adolescents.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2016Trial
- Effects of metformin on energy intake and satiety in obese children.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2015Trial
- Pregnancy alters choline dynamics: results of a randomized trial using stable isotope methodology in pregnant and nonpregnant women.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2013Trial
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The marked sentences are the ones the graph read a number from.
objectiveMetformin can decrease adiposity and ameliorate obesity-related comorbid conditions, including abnormalities in glucose homeostasis in adolescents, but there are few data evaluating the efficacy of metformin among younger children. Our objective was to determine whether metformin treatment causes weight loss and improves obesity-related comorbidities in obese children, who are insulin-resistant. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsThis study was a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial consisting of 100 severely obese (mean BMI 34.6 ± 6.6 kg/m(2)) insulin-resistant children aged 6-12 years, randomized to 1,000 mg metformin (n = 53) or placebo (n = 47) twice daily for 6 months, followed by open-label metformin treatment for 6 months. All children and their parents participated in a monthly dietitian-administered weight-reduction program.
resultsEighty-five percent completed the 6-month randomized phase. Children prescribed metformin had significantly greater decreases in BMI (difference -1.09 kg/m(2), CI -1.87 to -0.31, P = 0.006), body weight (difference -3.38 kg, CI -5.2 to -1.57, P < 0.001), BMI Z score (difference between metformin and placebo groups -0.07, CI -0.12 to -0.01, P = 0.02), and fat mass (difference -1.40 kg, CI -2.74 to -0.06, P = 0.04). Fasting plasma glucose (P = 0.007) and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) insulin resistance index (P = 0.006) also improved more in metformin-treated children than in placebo-treated children. Gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly more prevalent in metformin-treated children, which limited maximal tolerated dosage in 17%. During the 6-month open-label phase, children treated previously with placebo decreased their BMI Z score; those treated continuously with metformin did not significantly change BMI Z score further.
conclusionsMetformin had modest but favorable effects on body weight, body composition, and glucose homeostasis in obese insulin-resistant children participating in a low-intensity weight-reduction program.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.