INS and Insulin resistance: Large cohort studies of healthy children, i.e. the Early Bird Diabetes study [12] and the Bogalusa Heart study [13]), have provided data on the time-course of insulin resistance from prepuberty to puberty, but were limited to fasting estimation of insulin resistance by using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), suggesting that the decline of insulin sensitivity begins years before onset of puberty.