Seasonal variability in body mass index change among children enrolled in the Pediatric Obesity Weight Evaluation Registry: A step in the right direction

Taylor S Lane; Derek L Sonderegger; Helen J Binns; Shelley Kirk; Amy L Christison; Marsha Novick; Jared Tucker; Eileen King; Stephenie Wallace; Keith Brazendale; Roohi Y Kharofa; Sherry Walka; Hendrik 'Dirk' De Heer; POWER Work Group

doi:10.1111/ijpo.13012

Seasonal variability in body mass index change among children enrolled in the Pediatric Obesity Weight Evaluation Registry: A step in the right direction

Pediatr Obes. 2023 May;18(5):e13012. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.13012. Epub 2023 Feb 21.

Authors

Taylor S Lane¹, Derek L Sonderegger², Helen J Binns³, Shelley Kirk^{4

5}, Amy L Christison⁶, Marsha Novick⁷, Jared Tucker^{8

9}, Eileen King⁶, Stephenie Wallace^{10

11}, Keith Brazendale¹², Roohi Y Kharofa^{7

13}, Sherry Walka¹⁴, Hendrik 'Dirk' De Heer¹; POWER Work Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
² Department of Math and Statistics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
³ Pediatrics, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁴ Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
⁵ Center for Better Health and Nutrition Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, The Heart Institute, Milford, Ohio, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, Illinois, USA.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics and Family & Community Medicine, Healthy Weight Program for Children and Teens, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Children's Hospital, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁸ Health Optimization Services, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
¹¹ Adolescent Medicine, Children's Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
¹² Department of Health Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA.
¹³ Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
¹⁴ Northern Arizona Healthcare Inspire Program, Northern Arizona Healthcare, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.

Abstract

Background: Research has shown children disproportionately gain excess weight over the summer months (vs. school months), with stronger effects for children with obesity. However, the question has not been investigated among children receiving care in paediatric weight management (PWM) programs.

Objective: To test for seasonal variability in weight change among youth with obesity in PWM care enrolled in the Pediatric Obesity Weight Evaluation Registry (POWER).

Method: Longitudinal evaluation of a prospective cohort from 2014 to 2019 among youth in 31 PWM programs. Change in percentage of the 95th percentile for BMI (%BMIp95) was compared by quarter.

Results: Participants (N = 6816) were primarily ages 6-11 (48%), female (54%), 40% non-Hispanic White, 26% Hispanic and 17% Black, and 73% had severe obesity. Children were enrolled on average 424.9 ± 401.5 days. Participants reduced their %BMIp95 every season, but compared with Quarter 3 (July-September), reductions were significantly greater in Q1 (Jan-March, b = -0.27, 95%CI -0.46, -0.09), Q2 (April-June, b = -0.21, CI -0.40, -0.03), and Q4 (October-December, b = -0.44, CI -0.63, -0.26).

Conclusion and relevance: Across 31 clinics nationwide, children reduced their %BMIp95 every season, but reductions were significantly smaller during the summer quarter. While PWM successfully mitigated excess weight gain during every period, summer remains a high-priority time.

Keywords: %BMIp95; paediatric obesity; paediatric weight management; seasonal variability.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Body Mass Index
Child
Female
Humans
Pediatric Obesity* / epidemiology
Pediatric Obesity* / prevention & control
Prospective Studies
Registries
Seasons
Weight Gain

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding