The assessment of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer and macular ganglion cell layer changes in obese children: a cross-sectional study using optical coherence tomography

Purpose To investigate the relationship between the obesity and optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters. Methods We studied 54 obese and 33 non-obese children and adolescents. Obesity was defined as BMI higher than 95th percentile (BMI SDS > 1.64). OCT measurements were performed in all participants. Anthropometric and biochemical variables were compared with OCT parameters of 174 eyes. Results In obese children, in all quadrants retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses were significantly lower than non-obese children, and also ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer thicknesses in inferior and superiortemporal quadrants were significantly lower in the obese group. BMI SDS, insulin, HOMA-IR and triglyceride levels were negatively correlated with RNFL thickness, significantly ( r = −0.386, p