Lower Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Healthy Pre-Adolescents at Risk for Obesity

Abstract

Purpose: The obesity epidemic affects both pediatric and adult populations. Previous studies have shown obesity to be linked to common functional gastrointestinal disorders in children. However, there has been limited research specifically evaluating the prevalence of functional lower GI symptoms in pre-adolescent children at risk for obesity. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of lower GI functional symptoms by gender in healthy pre-adolescent children at risk for obesity. Methods: Overweight and obese children (n=305) between the ages of 5 and 11 yrs were recruited to participate in a randomized, controlled obesity prevention study. At the baseline visit, children and their parents completed the several validated questionnaires and questions on abdominal pain and bowel function from the Rome III questionnaire. Univariate and multivariable statistics were used to evaluate the association between MS and pelvic floor dysfunction. The criterion for significance (alpha) was set at 0.050, 2-tailed. Results: Complete data were available for 297 children. As shown in Table 1, female and male children were similar in age, BMI and BMI - Z score. Functional lower GI symptoms were common in healthy, pre-adolescent children of both genders. Females were more likely to report frequent abdominal pain (2 or more days per mos) compared with males. Chronic abdominal pain lasting two months or longer and IBS were relatively rare in both groups.Table 1: No Caption available.Conclusion: Functional lower GI symptoms were found to be common in healthy, pre-adolescent children at risk for obesity. Females reported more frequent abdominal pain, but were otherwise similar to males.