Comorbidities of Childhood Obesity

Abstract

The epidemic of obesity is known to contribute annually to 2.6 million deaths worldwide. [1] Excessive adiposity is the primary etiology of major metabolic diseases and related mortality. These deaths are attributed mainly to the comorbidities associated with obesity, including hypertension (HTN), cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetes mellitus (DM). The global escalation of childhood obesity is a matter of grave concern. Recent data have demonstrated a nearly fourfold rise in the prevalence of childhood obesity, making the pediatric age group the fastest growing subpopulation of obese individuals in this country. [1] Corresponding data examining global obesity trends demonstrate similar patterns worldwide with rates of overweight—defined as having a body mass index (BMI) greater that 25 kg/m2—occurring in 40% of men and 30% of women and rates of obesity (BMI≥30 kg/m2) at approximately 25%. [2] This condition can have far-reaching consequences on the physical and mental health of the young obese patients with many of these chronic diseases surging in childhood rather than adulthood. The normal BMI values used for defining overweight and obesity in adults cannot be extrapolated to the pediatric population as BMI is known to change with age and gender during childhood and adolescence. Center for Disease Control (CDC) BMI-for-age growth charts for girls and boys provide standard translation of a BMI number into a percentile with age and gender specific normograms. [3] Children with BMI equal to or exceeding the age-gender-specific 95th percentile are defined obese. Those with BMI equal to or exceeding the 85th but are below 95th percentiles are defined overweight. [4]