Morbidity of overweight (>or=85th percentile) in the first 2 years of life.
OBJECTIVE
Our hypothesis was that morbidity related to overweight/obesity is already evident in infants and young toddlers. The major objectives of this study were (1) to assess the prevalence of overweight in a sample of hospitalized infants and (2) to assess the prevalence of morbidity in overweight infants in a community-based sample.


METHODS
The hospital admission study population included 2139 infants, <or=24 months of age, who were admitted for any reason to the pediatric department at the Bnai Zion Medical Center in 2004-2005. For the community-based sample, we identified overweight infants (>or=85th weight-for-height percentile in >or=2 measurements, >or=3 months apart), <or=24 months of age, in 8 mother and child health care facilities in the Haifa subdistrict of Israel. Parents of infants were interviewed by using a structured questionnaire.


RESULTS
We found that overweight infants (85th to 94th percentiles) had fewer admissions and fewer repeated admissions than expected. Infants of >or=95th percentile had more admissions than expected, as well as a larger number of repeated admissions. In the second part of the study, we found that rates of developmental delays (mainly delayed gross motor skills) and snoring were significantly higher in infants of >or=85th percentile. In addition, although the results were not statistically significant, infants with overweight suffered more frequently from breathing problems, such as asthma and stridor. When the mothers were asked to assess whether their child was overweight, only 31.6% of mothers of overweight children thought that the child was overweight.


CONCLUSIONS
The high admission rates for infants of >or=95th percentile and the high incidence rates of respiratory morbidity, snoring, and delayed gross motor skills in overweight infants support our hypothesis regarding early morbidity associated with overweight.
Shibli
Rana
R
Department of Pediatrics, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
Rubin
Lisa
L
Akons
Hannah
H
Shaoul
Ron
R
D000208:Acute Disease; D017677:Age Distribution; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011336:Probability; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric