13 Jul, 2010 in
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Study: Childhood Obesity Raises GERD Risk by 30% to 40% By Reviewed By July 9, 2010 — Obesity is a major contributor to acid reflux disease in adults, as well as it appears the alike is real in kids. Obese kids had a 30% to 40% higher risk of having acid reflux disease than normal-weight kids in a recent study conducted by researchers with the health management group Kaiser Permanente. It is among the largest studies to examine the impact of obesity on acid reflux disease in kids. “Childhood obesity is an extremely humorless issue,” Kaiser research scientist Corinna Koebnick, PhD, tells WebMD. “Our study adds yet another risk to the already extensive list of risks associated with extreme obesity in childhood.” Kids, Obesity, as well as GERDKnown medically as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, the condition occurs when stomach contents back up into the esophagus. GERD can damage the esophagus as well as increase risk for esophageal cancer in adults. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the U.S. over the done three decades, according to the CDC. These days, about one in five kids as well as teens are obese, compared to about one in 20 three decades ago. As a result, obesity-related conditions such as high blood pressure as well as cholesterol, class 2 diabetes, as well as sleep apnea are all on the rise among kids as well as teens. Eight percent to 25% of kids possess repeated symptoms of reflux disease, Koebnick says. But the impact of the childhood obesity epidemic on the condition has not been well understood. In an effort to address this, Koebnick as well as colleagues analyzed the electronic health examination records of more than 690,000 kids as well as teens enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health plan in 2007 as well as 2008.
They found that in kids aged 6 as well as older as well as in teens, but not in younger kids, moderate as well as extreme obesity was associated with a statistically significant increase in reflux disease risk. Reflux disease is ordinary among infants, but obesity isn’t believed to play a role in infant GERD. The latest findings suggest that obesity is as well as not a major contributor to acid reflux disease in kids younger than 6. In older kids as well as in teens, extreme obesity was associated with up to a 40% increase in GERD risk as well as moderate obesity was associated with up to a 30% increase in risk. Risk Could Include Beginning Esophageal CancerIn a disconnected study published final May, researcher Marek Lukacik, MD, as well as colleagues reported that overweight as well as obese kids are 5-10 times more likely to possess symptoms of GERD than kids whose weight is common. Between 25% as well as 30% of the overweight kids in the study had acid reflux symptoms. Lukacik tells WebMD that he has seen a dramatic increase in GERD cases among kids in recent years as a pediatric GI specialist at the Health examination College of Georgia in Augusta. “When I see an obese patient with other complaints, I consult about GERD symptoms as well as they frequently possess them,” he says. He worries that early-onset GERD may make people vulnerable to esophageal cancer much earlier in life. Cases of esophageal cancer are expected to double in the U.S. over the next two decades, making it the fastest-growing cancer nationwide. Obesity as well as GERD are major risk factors for the cancer. “Adults with GERD may get esophageal cancer at 70, but a 10-year-old with GERD may be at risk much sooner,” he says. “We can’t say with certainty, but we do know that the longer someone has GERD the more damage is done to the esophagus.” SOURCES: Koebnick, C. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 2010; online edition. |
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