Clinical and biochemical profile of obese and overweight children at a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Abstract

<jats:p>Objectives: Childhood and adolescent obesity is increasing especially in developing countries like Pakistan. It seem to affect most socio-economic classes as well as all ethnicities and geographies. We planned this study to analyze the clinical and biochemical profile of obese as well as overweight children at a tertiary care hospital for the existence of metabolic syndrome. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics Medicine, Children Hospital Chandka Medical College / Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University, Larkana. Period: 1st July 2018 to 31st December 2018. Material &amp; Methods: Children, aged 5 to 16 years, both gender, having BMI &gt; 85th percentile regarding age and gender were enrolled. Demographic characteristics along with history, lifestyle parameters and physical examination were noted for all the study participants. Metabolic syndrome (Met S) was evaluated while overall results were presented in terms of proportions, mean and standard deviations. Results: A total of 78 cases were enrolled during the study period. There were 46 (58.9%) male and 32 (41.1%) female, with a male to female ratio of 1.4:1. Mean age amongst study participants was 10.8 years. We had 56 (71.8%) children as overweight whereas 22 (28.2%) obese. Acanthosis nigricans was the most common entity seen in 55 (70.1%) children during clinical examination. Metabolic syndrome was found to be present in 31 (39.7%) participants. Conclusion: Met S is not only limited to obese children as it can also affect children who are overweight.</jats:p>

Clinical and Metabolic Profile of Obese Children at a Tertiary Care Hospital

“…11,14 The most common physical finding of our study was Acanthosis Nigricans followed by hypertension which was also observed by Khuhro et al in their study. 15 Acanthosis Nigricans has been the most common skin manifestation in obese children and has been linked to insulin resistance and high risk to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 16,17 Therefore early recognition of this symptom can result in screening for complications of obesity in children.…”