Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in a Predominantly Latino Community

Julia Chu M.S., Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dennis Vickers MD, MPH, Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

Background
Childhood obesity in the United States is growing at a fairly rapid rate from 4% in the 1960s to 11% (average) for 1988-1994 to 15% in 1999-2000 (NHANES). In the Chicagoland area, over 20% of children are overweight/obese, up to 53% in some neighborhoods that are predominantly Latino (Mt Sinai Community Health Initiative). It is an important health topic because it often carries several serious health implications that can follow an individual into adulthood, including diabetes and heart disease.

Research Design & Subject Selection
Prevalence of overweight and/or obese children in the pediatric patient population of Infant Welfare Society of Chicago (IWS), a community health clinic serving a predominantly Latino population, was determined by a chart review of children ages 2, 5 and 10 years at time of an annual check-up (Well Child Check). Patients with underlying metabolic disorders (e.g. diabetes) were excluded.

Methods for Data Collection and Analysis
The charts of a third of the patients who met the criteria were reviewed in detail. Height, weight and physicians’ notes were all chronicled. “Weight” categories were determined by Body Mass Index (BMI) percentiles specific for gender and age. The IWS clinic results were then statistically compared with local, regional and national data.

Results
Results show that 26.3% of children age two, 45.5% of children age 5 and 43.6% of children age 10 at IWS are either “at risk of being overweight” (AR) or overweight/obese (OW/OB). For the 5 and 10 year old populations, the percentages at IWS are significantly greater compared to national rates obtained from NHANES 1999-2000 (p <0.01). No significant difference was seen in the two year old population.

Discussion and Conclusions
This study mirrors the growing epidemic of childhood obesity across the nation. The results also highlight a large difference in the percentage of children who are AR or OW/OB from the two year old population to the older populations (5 and 10), suggesting that a significant number of children gain weight between two and five years and subsequently maintain the weight. However, further studies need to be conducted since BMI is only a crude estimate of body weight and not the gold standard. A better indicator of obesity trends would involve analyzing multiple factors including looking at patient’s percent body fat, physical activity and diet. Also, the study population might not be reflective of the entire pediatric population because we looked at patients whose visits were categorized as Well Child Checks (physicals) and assuming to be “healthy,” at the time of data collection.

Implications
Identification of the at-risk and overweight populations at an early age can help increase awareness, initiate interventions earlier in life and stimulate more aggressive outreach programs to address the growing trend. Results from this study can help in grant applications to fund new programs or expand existing health promotion programs at IWS.

Acknowledgements and Contact Info
I would like to acknowledge Dr. Dennis Vickers for his mentorship and the rest of the IWS staff who helped in various stages. This project was completed as part of a field experience for the Masters of Public Health program at Northwestern University and funded with a summer research stipend from Northwestern. For further questions or more detailed data results and conclusions from this project, please contact Julia Chu at jchu007@md.northwestern.edu.

Previous Presentations/Publications
The results and conclusions of this study have only been presented at the quarterly IWS all-staff meeting in October 2004, as a field experience presentation to Northwestern MPH students and faculty and as a poster presentation to the Northwestern Medical School community as part of a Summer Research Program poster symposium.

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