The Influence of Childhood Obesity on Presentation to a Pediatric Emergency Department

A. Background and Significance:

Obesity is a public health issue in the United States. Obesity amongst children is rising at an alarming rate. Thirty percent of US children aged 6 to 19 are over weight and 15 % are obese1. It is estimated that over 18 million US children are over weight. The long-term impact of childhood obesity on such diseases as Diabetes, Asthmaand Hypertension, is well studied. The effects of childhood obesity on the current health status of the pediatric population have not been studied.

B. Methodology:

As part of routine patient care, we measured length in addition to weight of patients 2 years to 18 years of age presenting to the pediatric emergency department. A report was run monthly to calculate the BMI of all patients for whom data is available. The data were plotted on the year 2000 gender based BMI for age percentile growth charts from CDC. A retrospective electronic chart review was conducted for patients At Risk body weight (BMI ≥ 85%), and were compared to "control" or healthy (BMI of 25 - 75 %) group for six groups of final ED diagnoses of infectious disease (ID). Data were entered and analyzed via SPSS 14.0 for Windows 2000 software systems.