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Musculoskeletal Problems in Overweight and Obese Children

¹ Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
² Department of General Practice, EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, and NIVEL, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands
³ Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC, and Sophia Children’s Hospital Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Marjolein Krul, MD, Department of General Practice, Room Ff304, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands, m.krul{at}erasmusmc.nl

PURPOSE The obesity epidemic in children is spreading at alarming rates. Because musculoskeletal problems can influence physical activity, we compared the frequency of musculoskeletal problems in overweight and obese children with that in normal-weight children.

METHODS We performed a cross-sectional database and face-to-face interview study that included 2,459 children aged 2 to 17 years from Dutch family practices. We collected data on self-reported height and weight (body mass index), self-reported musculoskeletal problems in the 2 weeks before the interview, number of family physician consultations for musculoskeletal problems in 1 year, and age (2 age-groups were analyzed: 2 to 11 years and 12 to 17 years, because of the proxy interview in the youngest age-group). We calculated the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for musculoskeletal problems in overweight and obese children, compared with normal-weight children.

RESULTS Overweight and obese children in both age-groups (2 to 11 years and 12 to 17 years) reported significantly more musculoskeletal problems (OR = 1.86; 95% CI, 1.18–2.93; and OR = 1.69; 95% CI, 1.08–2.65, respectively) than normal-weight children. The total group of children who were overweight or obese reported more lower extremity problems than did the normal-weight children (OR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.09–2.41); furthermore, they reported more ankle and foot problems than children who were of normal weight (OR = 1.92; 95% CI, 1.15–3.20). Overweight and obese children aged 12 to 17 years consulted their family physicians more often with lower extremity problems than did the normal-weight children (OR = 1.92; 95% CI, 1.05–3.51).

CONCLUSION This study shows that overweight and obese children more frequently experience musculoskeletal problems than do normal-weight children.

Key Words: Children • obesity • overweight • musculoskeletal

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