Obesity as determined by body mass index was a statistically significant predictor of blood clot formation in juveniles, the study showed. The association between obesity and venous thromboembolism (VTE), formation of blood clots, can cause both acute and chronic health problems if left untreated, the researchers warned.
"Our study demonstrated an association between obesity and VTE in children, which should be explored further in larger future studies," said Elizabeth Halvorson, assistant professor at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, US.
"This is important because the incidence of pediatric VTE has increased dramatically over the last 20 years and childhood obesity remains highly prevalent in the US," she added.
For the study the researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of patients at Wake Forest Baptist’s Brenner Children’s Hospital between January 2000 and September 2012. They identified 88 patients between ages 2-18 who confirmed cases of VTE.
After adjusting for the other risk factors – among them bloodstream infection and time spent in an intensive care unit – the researchers found a small but statistically significant association between obesity and VTE. The research was published in the journal Hospital Pediatrics.