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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Obesity and under-nutrition in a tertiary paediatric hospital

J O'Connor1, L S Youde, J R Allen

  • 1Departments of Paediatrics and Child Health, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
|May 21, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Paediatric over-nutrition is prevalent in hospital outpatients and linked to longer hospital stays in older children. Interventions are needed to address these nutritional challenges and their impact on healthcare resources.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Public Health
  • Hospital Medicine

Background:

  • High prevalence of over-nutrition (overweight and obesity) identified in paediatric patients.
  • Over-nutrition rates in hospital outpatients exceed those in the general Australian community.
  • Under-nutrition and wasting are present in similar proportions among inpatients and outpatients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of over- and under-nutrition in paediatric inpatients and outpatients.
  • To compare paediatric over-nutrition rates with Australian community data.
  • To investigate the impact of nutritional status on hospital length of stay.

Main Methods:

  • Proportionate sampling of paediatric patients (over 12 months) from inpatient wards and outpatient clinics.
  • Measurement of height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) for 245 inpatients and 272 outpatients.
  • Comparison of overweight/obesity prevalence with the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey (NNS).

Main Results:

  • Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22% in inpatients and significantly higher at 32% in outpatients (P < 0.0001).
  • Nutritional status and its interaction with age were significant predictors of inpatient length of stay (P = 0.004 and P = 0.009, respectively).
  • Older over-nourished inpatients experienced significantly longer hospital stays compared to normally nourished or under-nourished children.

Conclusions:

  • A high prevalence of over-nutrition exists within paediatric hospital populations.
  • Over-nutrition, particularly in older children, is associated with increased hospital length of stay.
  • Addressing paediatric over-nutrition is crucial for optimizing healthcare interventions and hospital resource management.
Abstract

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