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Body composition profile of children and adolescent patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Hadeel A Alsufyani1, Mahmoud M Mosli2,3, Omar I Saadah3,4
1Department of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often have altered body composition. Biological therapy use was linked to lower rates of obesity and myopenia in Saudi Arabian pediatric IBD patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric gastroenterology
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) research
- Body composition analysis
Background:
- Children with IBD frequently exhibit changes in fat and soft tissue mass.
- These body composition alterations can impact disease severity and surgical outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate body composition profiles in pediatric patients with IBD in Saudi Arabia.
- To identify factors associated with obesity and myopenia in this cohort.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cross-sectional study of 95 pediatric IBD patients (2013-2018).
- Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans used for bone density evaluation.
- Obesity defined by fat mass index (FMI); myopenia by appendicular skeletal muscle mass (SMMa).
Main Results:
- Nearly half (49.5%) had normal body composition; 26.3% were obese, 23.2% myopenic.
- Biological therapy use predicted lower odds of obesity (OR=7.0) and myopenia (OR=0.11).
- Female gender predicted myopenia (OR=3.5).
Conclusions:
- Pediatric IBD patients in Saudi Arabia show body composition similar to adults.
- Biological therapy is associated with reduced obesity and myopenia incidence.
- Female gender is a predictor for myopenia in pediatric IBD.
Background And Aims:
Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) generally show an alteration in their fat and soft tissue mass contents. These alterations may influence disease severity and increase the risk of post-operative complications.
Methods:
This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients with IBD, diagnosed and followed up between 2013 and 2018, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, who had dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans for bone density evaluation. Obesity was defined based on fat mass index (FMI) and myopenia based on appendicular skeletal muscle mass (SMMa).
Results:
This study incorporated 95 child and adolescent patients (52% female) with IBD: 59 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 36 with ulcerative colitis (UC), mean age 11.8 ± 3.3 years and mean duration of illness 1.8 ± 1.9 years. The most common disease phenotype and behaviour for CD patients were ileocolonic (57.6%) and non-stricturing and non-penetrating (76.3%). Of UC patients, 75% had extensive disease (pancolitis). Body composition profile in the total IBD cohort was classified as normal in 49.5%, obese in 26.3%, myopenic in 23.2% and myopenic-obese in 1.1%. The use of biological therapy was identified as a negative predictor for both obesity (OR = 7.0, 95% CI: 1.3-37.9, P = .02) and myopenia (OR = 0.11, 95% CI:0.02-0.47, P = .003), and female gender was shown to predict myopenia (OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 1.0-11.8, P = .04).
Conclusions:
Saudi Arabian children with IBD showed comparable body composition profiles to adult patients with IBD. Biological therapy was associated with a decreased incidence of both obesity and myopenia, and female gender was found to predict myopenia.
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