title: Is There an Association between Functional Constipation and Excessive Bodyweight in Children?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of functional constipation, overweight, and obesity in a cross-sectional observational study among children in Colombia and to examine the association between functional constipation and excessive bodyweight in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographics, anthropometric data, and questionnaires were collected from 2820 children between 8 and 18 years of age across 4 regions in Colombia. A Spanish translation of the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III Version was used to determine the prevalence of functional constipation. Anthropometric measurements of weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were obtained following World Health Organization guidelines; overweight was defined as a BMI z-score (adjusted for sex and age) between 1 and 2, obesity was defined as a BMI z-score >2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 368 children (13.0%) were found to have functional constipation, 542 children (19.2%) were overweight, and 188 children (6.7%) were obese. Functional constipation did not occur more frequently in children who were obese (14.9%) or overweight (13.1%) compared with children with normal weight (12.9%, P = .73). The prevalence of functional constipation, overweight, and obesity differed significantly between regions. Functional constipation and excessive bodyweight were significantly more common in children attending private schools compared with children attending public schools.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Functional constipation, overweight, and obesity are commonly observed in children in Colombia. No association between functional constipation and overweight or obesity was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Emma Children's Hospital/Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH. Electronic address: i.j.koppen@amc.nl.
authors.forename: Ilan J N
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Koppen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Velasco-Benítez
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Emma Children's Hospital/Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Benninga
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Lorenzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saps
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003105:Colombia; D003248:Constipation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires