Fatema Ilyas Saboowala; Maysa Saleh; Jeyaseelan lakshmanan; Roaa Alharbi
Abstract
Background: This study assessed the prevalence of obese children at a general pediatric outpatient clinic, Latifa Women and Children Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associations ...
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Background: This study assessed the prevalence of obese children at a general pediatric outpatient clinic, Latifa Women and Children Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associations between obesity and factors such as the child’s sex, age, and nationality are also estimated.
Methods: Data from 266 patients' electronic medical records (aged 2–13 years) were analyzed in this observational cross-sectional study from June 2019 to January 2021. Socio-demographic variables were age, sex, and nationality. The outcome variable was weight status, which was assessed using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classification of body mass index (BMI).
Results: 26% of the children were either overweight (11.3%) or obese (14.7%). A significant association was found between school-age children and obesity (P < 0.001). The mean systolic blood pressure of obese children was 109.56 mmHg (standard deviation (SD) 12.8), which was higher than that of non-obese children (98.05 mmHg (SD 9.8)) (P < 0.001). Obesity was found to have a negative correlation with a child's gender and nationality.
Conclusion: The obesity prevalence at Latifa Women and Children's Hospital has not been studied before in the general pediatric clinic. Hence, the high prevalence of obesity identified in this setting may allow for the recognition of overweight and obese children at an early stage when visiting general outpatient pediatric clinics. Furthermore, knowledge of recent obesity prevalence in the general population may help the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its efforts to reduce obesity (7).
