Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School-EK Shriver Center, 200 Trapelo Road, Waltham, MA 02452, USA.
BMC Pediatr. 2010 Feb 23;10:11. doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-10-11.
The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the last two decades and numerous efforts to understand, intervene on, and prevent this significant threat to children's health are underway for many segments of the pediatric population. Understanding the prevalence of obesity in populations of children with developmental disorders is an important undertaking, as the factors that give rise to obesity may not be the same as for typically developing children, and because prevention and treatment efforts may need to be tailored to meet their needs and the needs of their families. The goal of the current study was to estimate the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents with autism.
This study was a secondary data analysis of cross-sectional nationally representative data collected by telephone interview of parents/guardians on 85,272 children ages 3-17 from the 2003-2004 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Autism was determined by response to the question, "Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that your child has autism?" Children and adolescents were classified as obese according to CDC guidelines for body mass index (BMI) for age and sex.
The prevalence of obesity in children with autism was 30.4% compared to 23.6% of children without autism (p = .075). The unadjusted odds of obesity in children with autism was 1.42 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00, 2.02, p = .052) compared to children without autism.
Based on US nationally representative data, children with autism have a prevalence of obesity at least as high as children overall. These findings suggest that additional research is warranted to understand better the factors that influence the development of obesity in this population of children.
在过去的二十年中，儿童肥胖症的患病率急剧上升，许多针对儿科人群的努力正在进行，以了解、干预和预防这一严重威胁儿童健康的问题。了解发育障碍儿童肥胖症的流行情况是一项重要任务，因为导致肥胖的因素可能与正常发育的儿童不同，而且预防和治疗措施可能需要根据他们的需求和家庭的需求进行调整。本研究的目的是估计自闭症儿童肥胖症的患病率。
这是一项对通过电话访谈收集的横断面全国代表性数据的二次数据分析，调查了 2003-2004 年全国儿童健康调查（NSCH）中 85272 名 3-17 岁儿童的父母/监护人。自闭症是通过回答“医生或健康专家是否曾告诉您您的孩子患有自闭症？”来确定的。根据疾病预防控制中心（CDC）针对年龄和性别的体重指数（BMI）指南，将儿童和青少年分类为肥胖。
自闭症儿童肥胖症的患病率为 30.4%，而无自闭症儿童的肥胖症患病率为 23.6%（p =.075）。自闭症儿童肥胖症的未调整比值比（OR）为 1.42（95%置信区间（CI）：1.00，2.02，p =.052），与无自闭症儿童相比。
基于美国全国代表性数据，自闭症儿童的肥胖症患病率至少与整体儿童一样高。这些发现表明，需要进行更多的研究，以更好地了解影响这一儿童群体肥胖症发展的因素。
