title: An analysis of the functional health of obese children and adolescents utilizing the PODC instrument.
abstract: Childhood and adolescent obesity is increasing in prevalence and is known to have long-term medical and musculoskeletal consequences. The baseline Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) was administered to 50 obese patients (>95th percentile BMI for age) or their parent (for those <11 years) presenting to a pediatric orthopaedic clinic to assess overall function. There were no differences between sexes (31 boys, 19 girls) or age group (>11 years, n = 36; <11 years, n = 14) in any demographic or PODCI category. Compared with normative data, there was significant impairment in sports and pain identified in both genders, African-Americans, and those older than 11 years. These findings were consistent when comparing genders, ethnicities, and ages. There was no difference in happiness between any gender, age, or ethnic group. All groups reported essentially neutral satisfaction. There appears to be a lack of self-recognition of or reluctance to admit functional impairment secondary to obesity. Being obese, African-American ethnicity, and age older than 11 years appear to be risk factors for limited, yet significant, functional impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas, 75219, USA. david.podeszwa@tsrh.org
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Podeszwa
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Stanko
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mooney
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Cramer
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mendelow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires