Psoriasis and obesity in French children: a case-control, multicentre study
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Published on: February 2, 2017
E Mahé1, A Beauchet2, C Bodemer3
1Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Victor Dupouy, 69 rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prud'hon, 95100, Argenteuil, France.
Insights
Children with psoriasis are more likely to be overweight with abdominal obesity or obese. Risk factors include female sex and parental overweight, similar to the general population. Psoriasis type or severity did not influence these outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dermatology
- Public Health
- Obesity Research
Background:
- Obesity is a known comorbidity in adult psoriasis patients.
- Limited data exists on the association between obesity and psoriasis in pediatric populations.
- This study addresses the knowledge gap in French children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence of obesity in French children diagnosed with psoriasis.
- To compare obesity rates in children with psoriasis versus a control group.
- To identify potential risk factors for obesity in pediatric psoriasis.
Main Methods:
- A multicenter case-control study involving 23 French dermatology centers.
- Inclusion of children with psoriasis and age/sex-matched controls without chronic inflammatory diseases.
- Utilized French Health Authority guidelines for defining overweight, abdominal obesity, and obesity categories.
Main Results:
- 261 children with psoriasis were analyzed; mean age 9.8 years.
- No significant difference in general overweight prevalence between groups (20.7% vs 17.1%).
- Significantly higher rates of overweight with abdominal obesity (18.4% vs 10.4%) and obesity (10.0% vs 3.1%) in the psoriasis group.
Conclusions:
- Children with psoriasis exhibit higher rates of abdominal obesity and overall obesity compared to controls.
- Risk factors for obesity in these children mirror those in the general French population: female sex and parental overweight.
- Psoriasis clinical type and severity do not appear to influence overweight or obesity status.
Background:
Obesity is more common in adults with psoriasis than in the general population, but there is a lack of data available regarding this association in children.
Objectives:
To evaluate whether obesity was more common in French children with psoriasis of any clinical type or severity.
Methods:
A multicentre case-control study was performed in 23 French dermatology centres. Children without chronic or genetic inflammatory disease were selected as controls and matched for age, sex and dermatology centre. We used three weight cut-off categories to compare the two groups: overweight, overweight with abdominal obesity and overweight with obesity according to the French Health Authority guidelines.
Results:
A total of 261 children with psoriasis were included. The mean age was 9.8 years, 126 were boys and 135 were girls. Overall, 42.5% of these children had plaque psoriasis and 32.2% had severe psoriasis. There was no difference between the psoriasis and control groups when the frequency of children who were overweight was compared (20·7% in psoriasis group vs. 17·1% in control group; P = 0·18). Overweight with abdominal obesity including obesity (18·4% vs. 10·4%; P = 0·009) and obesity alone (10·0% vs. 3·1%; P = 0·001) were more common in the psoriasis group.
Conclusions:
This study shows that being overweight with abdominal obesity and being obese is more common in children with psoriasis than in controls. The risk factors are the same as those that affect the French general population, i.e. female sex and having a parent who was overweight. The severity and clinical type of psoriasis do not affect overweight and obesity.
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