本研究之目的為觀察非肥胖青少年運動員的發育期，其全身胰島素敏感度與葡萄糖耐受性是否隨年齡增加而改變，並了解其與血脂濃度、甲狀腺素及生長激素之相關性。三十六位全國最優秀中長距離男性青少年徑賽選手依年齡區分為國小、國中及高中共三組，受試者在非競賽期間，經隔夜禁食10-12小時後，進行葡萄糖耐受性試驗（OGTT），先採血以測量血糖、胰島素濃度、總膽固醇（TCH）、高密度脂蛋白（HDL）、低密度脂蛋白（LDL）、生長激素（GH）與甲狀腺素（T3）的血液基準值後，隨後在食用75公克葡萄糖後於30分鐘、50分鐘、80分鐘等時間點以真空採血管收集樣本觀察這些指標的變化。結果發現：一、青少年運動員之血糖吸收能力與胰島素敏感度明顯隨年齡增加而降低（p<0.05）。二、排除肌肉質量增加對血糖吸收的效應後，血糖數值經由去脂體重校正後高中組的受試者濃度較國小組的受試者為高，顯示高中組受試者葡萄糖耐受性顯然較國小組的受試者差（p<0.05）。三、此三組受試者胰島素濃度在所有的時間點均無顯著差距。前述二結果顯示運動員年齡愈大身體對胰島素作用來促進身體吸收血糖的能力明顯比年齡小的選手差。四、此三組受試者中平均生長激素統計上濃度隨年齡增加而增加，以高中組濃度最高，國小組最低，二組具有顯著差異（P<0.05）。五、此三組受試者平均甲狀腺素濃度無統計上的顯著差異。此外，三組血液中高密度脂蛋白、低密度脂蛋白的濃度與高密度脂蛋白及總膽固醇比值並無統計上的顯著差異。這結果顯示，即使在平時有足夠且規律的運動身體組成正常的青少年，青春期發育過程身體對胰島素的敏感度與葡萄糖吸收能力仍然自然下降，而血膽固醇的濃度則未受到這個代謝調整狀況影響。

　　　　　Skeletal muscle is the major site for insulin stimulated glucose disposal. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the in vivo insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance was influenced by adolescent growth, the important period of skeletal muscle development. Thirty-six subjects were classified into three categories according to the age of each subject: elementary students (E, N=12), junior-high students (J, N=12), and senior-high students (S, N=12). These subjects underwent an overnight fast and the blood samples were collected for baseline measurements. The glucose and insulin concentrations, the blood lipid profile including HDL-C, LDL-C, and total cholesterol, and the hormones that may affect skeletal muscle growth including growth hormone and triiodothyronine, were analyzed in these fasted blood samples. Blood glucose and insulin concentrations of these samples were also measured at 30, 50, and 80 min after a 75-gram of glucose ingestion. We have found that the whole body glucose tolerance was slightly getting lower along the age. When the blood glucose concentration of each subject was normalized by fat-free mass, the S group displayed the highest mean glucose concentration and the E group displayed the lowest mean value among the three age groups (p<0.05). No difference in plasma insulin level was found at any time point among the three age groups. The fasting growth hormone level was significantly higher in the S subjects than the J and S subjects. Although the declining of the glucose tolerance along the age was apparent, the differences in plasma lipid profile among the three groups were not observed in this study.