Weight loss in an obese child: positive changes or not?

Abstract

Weight, BMI and its changes with age are one of the key indicators in pediatrics. The values of these indicators are the main parameters for assessing nutritional status (NS) and defining nutritional disorders - obesity and protein-energy malnutrition. At the same time, body weight and its changes only conditionally reflect the mass of fat and the amount of fat-free mass (especially the compartment of skeletal muscles). In the healthy population (in which the relevant references had been obtained), the changes of BMI can significantly reflect the changes of body composition. In children with chronic diseases (and/or with metabolic disorders, and/ or in oncopediatrics) the sensitivity of BMI as an indicator of NS is significantly lower and variable. This is due to deviations from the “normal” body composition existing in these patients. As a result, a deficit of fat-free mass can be accompanied by an excess of fat mass. Sarcopenia, which has negative consequences for the child, can be masked by obesity. Therefore, this condition, sar-copenic obesity, represents a huge problem. On the one hand, due to the coexistence of two nutritional disorders in one patient. On the other hand, due to underestimation in pediatrics. The latter is the consequence of frequent understanding of the child’s body weight as an unconditional and independent indicator. This can have dramatic consequences for the development and growth of the child. Therefore, weight loss in an obese child does not yet mean positive dynamics.