Clinical profile of the overweight child in the new millennium

Background: In conjunction with the rising prevalence of obesity during the past several decades, the clinical profile of the obese child has changed. Hypothesis. Environmental influences and eating practices have had an impact on the presence of medical morbidities among obese children. Design: Retrospective chart review of data collected from 90 children entering into a pediatric weight management program was performed. Fisher's exact tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare outcomes between subpopulations. Results: There was greater elevation in systolic blood pressure among children who ate in front of the television (P =.03) and a greater degree of fast-food consumption among children with more than 3 medical morbidities (P =.02). Breast-feeding did not have a protective effect on the degree of obesity (P =.02). Conclusion: Aggressive assessment for symptoms should be an important part of evaluating the overweight child. Environmental influences and social feeding practices can counteract the protective effects of breast-feeding in infancy.