title: The association of psoriasis and elevated blood lipids in overweight and obese children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether obesity and cardiovascular risk factors are associated with psoriasis in children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  For this population-based, cross-sectional study, measured weight and height, laboratory data, and psoriasis diagnoses were extracted from electronic medical records of 710,949 patients age 2 to 19 years enrolled in an integrated health plan. Weight class was assigned on the basis of body mass index-for-age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The OR for psoriasis was 0.68, 1.00, 1.31, 1.39, and 1.78 (95% CI, 1.49 to 2.14) for underweight, normal-weight, overweight, moderately obese, and extremely obese children, respectively (P for trend < .001). The OR for psoriasis treated with systemic therapy or phototherapy as an indicator of severe or widespread psoriasis was 0.00, 1.00, 2.78, 2.93, and 4.19 (95% CI, 1.81 to 9.68) for underweight, normal-weight, overweight, moderately obese, and extremely obese children, respectively (P for trend < .003). In adolescents, mean total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and alanine aminotransferase were significantly higher in children with psoriasis compared with children without psoriasis after adjustment for body mass index.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight and obesity are associated with higher odds of psoriasis in youths. Independent of body weight, adolescent patients with psoriasis have higher blood lipids. These data suggest that pediatricians and dermatologists should screen youths with psoriasis for cardiovascular disease risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koebnick
authors.forename: Mary Helen
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jack K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Der-Sarkissian
authors.forename: Amy H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Jashin J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010789:Phototherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D000410:Alanine Transaminase