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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Childhood overweight and obesity as risk factors for astigmatism: a longitudinal analysis

Itay Nitzan1, David Carmon2, Oriel Spierer3

  • 1Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel; Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. Journal Canadien D'Ophtalmologie
|June 16, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Children with overweight and obesity have a higher risk of developing astigmatism. Early vision screening for high body mass index (BMI) children can help prevent vision impairment.

Area of Science:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • The relationship between body mass index (BMI) and astigmatism in children is not well-established.
  • Astigmatism is a common refractive error affecting visual acuity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the longitudinal association between BMI and the development of astigmatism in a large pediatric cohort.
  • To determine if higher BMI categories increase the risk of astigmatism in children.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study of 22,130 children aged 6-10 years with at least 2 years of follow-up.
  • BMI categorized using CDC percentiles; astigmatism defined as ≥0.75 D.
  • Multinomial logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic factors; population attributable fraction calculated.

Main Results:

  • Astigmatism prevalence increased with higher baseline BMI categories (p < 0.001).
  • Overweight and obesity were significantly associated with increased odds of low-to-moderate and high astigmatism.
  • Obesity showed the strongest association with against-the-rule astigmatism (OR: 1.41).

Conclusions:

  • Overweight and obesity are linked to an elevated risk of astigmatism in children.
  • Targeted vision screening for children with high BMI is recommended for early detection and intervention.
  • Timely correction of astigmatism can mitigate potential visual impairment.
Abstract

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