Recurrent abdominal pain in school children: effect of obesity and diet.
OBJECTIVE
To study the epidemiology and some of the risk factors of childhood recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in school age children.


METHODS
We used a questionnaire concerning socioeconomic parameters, intensity, frequency, duration, nature of RAP and anthropometric measures. We used several criteria to identify RAP and the Wong-Baker FACES scale for pain intensity and calculated the gender/age-specific body mass index (BMI) Z-score using NCHS standards. Obesity was defined as a BMI>or=95th percentile for age and gender.


RESULTS
A total of 925 children mean age of 9.5 years completed and returned the questionnaires. The prevalence of RAP was 24%; 22% among boys versus 26% among girls (p=0.28) and reached its peak among children aged 7-9 (29%) years. Children with BMI>or=95% percentile reported more RAP compared to those not obese (33.3% vs. 22.5%) (OR=1.8, p=0.01). There was an inverse correlation between fruit consumption and RAP prevalence with 20% among children reporting more than three serving of fruit per week compared to 40% of those who did not consume any fruits (p<0.002). Logistic regression analysis confirmed BMI>or=95th percentile and low consumption of fruits are significant risk factors for RAP.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a significant association between RAP and obesity and both conditions are prevalent among children in this population. Understanding more about the co-morbidity between RAP and obesity could have important implications on RAP management and treatment.
Malaty
Hoda M
HM
Department of Medicine, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. hmalaty@bcm.tmc.edu
Abudayyeh
Suhaib
S
Fraley
Ken
K
Graham
David Y
DY
Gilger
Mark A
MA
Hollier
David R
DR
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires