Overweight and constipation in adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundThe association between overweight and gastrointestinal symptoms has been recently studied in the literature; however, few studies have evaluated the association between overweight and constipation in adolescents in a community-based sample. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of constipation and its association with being overweight in a community-based survey with adolescents.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 1,077 adolescents who were enrolled in five schools in the city of Sao José dos Campos, Brazil. Constipation was defined according to modified and combined Rome III criteria for adolescents and adults. Being overweight was defined as a body mass index (BMI) that was equal to or greater than that of the 85th percentile for age and gender.ResultsConstipation was diagnosed in 18.2% (196/1077) of the included adolescents. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of constipation in males and females who were both younger and older than 14 years. Fecal incontinence was observed in 25 adolescents, 22 (88.0%) of whom were diagnosed as being constipated. The prevalence of being overweight was found in 13.5% (145/1077) of the study population. The prevalence of constipation was observed to be similar in adolescents who were (19.4%; 28/144) and were not (18.0%; 168/933) overweight (p = 0.764; OR = 1.10). Fecal incontinence that was associated with constipation was more frequent in adolescents who were overweight (37.0%; 8/28) than in adolescents who were not overweight (8.5%; 14/168; p = 0.005; OR = 4.40).ConclusionsThe prevalence of constipation was high among the investigated adolescents. There was no association between being overweight and constipation; however, an association between being overweight and fecal incontinence in constipated adolescents was confirmed.

Lifestyle, psychological stress, and incidence of adolescent constipation: Results from the Toyama Birth Cohort Study

“…In our study, 6.8% of girls and 2.7% of boys developed constipation during the 3-year period (female OR 2.62, Table 2), which seemed comparable to the results of many cross-sectional studies showing that female adults are more likely to be constipated than male adults, although sex differences in the prevalence of constipation among children have been inconsistent [1,2,19,20 ]. Some mechanisms of female predominance in constipation have been demonstrated.…”

“…Previous studies conducted in clinical settings showed that children with functional constipation had a higher prevalence of obesity than controls [24,25]. Meanwhile, most previous population-based studies for healthy children reported no association [20,26] or an inverse association between obesity and constipation [7,[25][26]. In our study, children who were overweight were less likely to develop constipation.…”

Obesity and functional constipation in children

“…These measurements compared to the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth chart of BMI for children aged 2 to 20 years. 2 Subjects with BMI ≥ 95 th percentile were classified as obese; those with BMI between 5t h percentile and < 85 th percentile were classified as normoweight children.…”

“…1 Most studies on a correlation between obesity and functional constipation have been done in developed countries. 2 Obese children usually consume a low fiber diet and engage in less physical activity than normoweight children. These two factors result in altered defecation patterns.…”

Preventing constipation: a review of the laxative potential of food ingredients

“…Older and less educated individuals suffering from constipation might also tend to be overweight (Pourhoseingholi et al ., ). However, in general, constipation would not be linked to obesity (Costa et al ., ; Eslick, ).…”