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[Presence of genu valgum in obese children: cause or effect?]
B Bonet Serra1, A Quintanar Rioja, M Alavés Buforn
1Servicio de Pediatría. Fundación Hospital Alcorcón. Madrid. España. bbjbonet@fhalcorcon.es
Insights
Overweight children have a higher incidence of genu valgum, a condition affecting leg alignment. This may reduce physical activity and contribute to obesity development.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Orthopedics
- Obesity Research
Context:
- Obesity is a growing concern in children, potentially linked to physical activity levels.
- Body configuration changes can influence caloric consumption and weight gain.
- Genu valgum is a knee alignment alteration that might impact physical activity.
Purpose:
- To investigate the prevalence of genu valgum in overweight children.
- To assess if genu valgum is associated with decreased physical activity and caloric expenditure in this population.
Summary:
- A study compared 35 overweight children with 29 non-overweight controls.
- Measurements included weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), and intermalleolar distance for genu valgum assessment.
- Overweight children exhibited significantly greater intermalleolar distance and a positive correlation between this distance and BMI.
Impact:
- Findings indicate a substantially higher incidence of genu valgum in overweight children.
- Genu valgum may be a contributing factor to reduced physical activity and the exacerbation of childhood obesity.
- This highlights a potential target for interventions aimed at managing childhood obesity.
Background:
Changes in body configuration that may affect the physical activity may play a role in the caloric consumption and led to the development of obesity.
Objectives:
To determine the presence of genu valgum, an alteration that may decrease physical activity and caloric expenditure, in overweight children.
Methods:
Thirty-five overweight children without any endocrinological alterations that could lead to obesity were studied. Twenty-nine non-overweight children of a similar age were studied as a control group. In all children weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were studied, and intermalleolar distance was used to measure the degree of genu valgum. The differences between groups were studied using ANOVA and the correlation between variables was determined using Pearson's correlation.
Results:
BMI was higher in overweight children than in the control group. Intermalleolar distance was greater in overweight children than in the non-overweight group (11.0 0.6 vs 2.90 0.43; p < 0.001). A positive correlation between the intermalleolar distance and the BMI was observed in the overweight group (p < 0.009). Fifty percent of the overweight children showed an intermalleolar distance of more than 10 cm, a value considered abnormal.
Conclusions:
The incidence of genu valgum is much higher in overweight children than in non-overweight children of the same age. This alteration may lead to decreased physical activity and lead to obesity.
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