Evaluating tonsillectomy as a risk factor for childhood obesity.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate weight gain and any increased risk of obesity in children who have undergone tonsillectomy.


METHODS
Retrospective chart review.


METHODS
Tertiary care pediatric hospital.


METHODS
The study included 200 children aged 2 to 12 years who were undergoing tonsillectomy and 200 age- and sex-matched controls. All children had a preoperative body mass index (BMI) and a postoperative BMI recorded 6 to 18 months after surgery.


METHODS
The BMI percentile (BMI%) for age was analyzed between and within groups. A Wilcoxon matched-pairs test was used to analyze BMI% before and after tonsillectomy. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare BMI% between the study and the control groups. An odds ratio (OR) was used to compare overweight (≥ 85%) and obese (≥ 95%) patients before and after surgery. A correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between age and weight gain.


RESULTS
The BMI% did not differ significantly between the study and the control groups before surgery (P = .14). The BMI% in the study group increased significantly after tonsillectomy (P < .001). Although older children had a higher BMI% than matched controls before surgery, they had a smaller change in BMI% than younger children after tonsillectomy (P = .004). The odds of a child being overweight (OR, 1.23; P = .36) or obese (OR, 1.44; P = .12) were not significantly different before or after tonsillectomy.


CONCLUSIONS
Children, particularly younger ones, gained weight after tonsillectomy, but the odds of a child being overweight or obese after tonsillectomy were no different than they were before surgery.
Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Nemours, DuPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE 19899, USA.
Jessica
J
Levi
Steven
S
Leoniak
Richard
R
Schmidt
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014068:Tonsillectomy