Author(s)

Sonia Morales^1*#, Moran Gotesman¹, Emily M. Su², Jennifer K. Yee¹, Maritza E. Ruiz³, Scott Friedlander⁴, Joseph L. Lasky III⁵, Eduard H. Panosyan¹

¹Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, The Lundquist Institute of Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, CA, USA.
²Summa Health System, Akron, OH, USA.
³Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA.
⁴New York University Langone Health, New York, NY, USA.
⁵Cure 4 The Kids Foundation, One Breakthrough Way, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Background: Due to successful treatment modalities, the majority of pediatric cancer patients will survive. Increased body mass index (BMI) is a complication among pediatric cancer survivors. Methods: This retrospective single-center study examined BMI changes among a cohort of predominantly Hispanic patients who were treated in South Los Angeles. Data were collected at diagnosis, 1, 2 and 3 years after. Analyses included z-scores derived from calculated BMIs compared over 3 years per gender, diagnosis, and treatment modality. The unhealthy BMI z-score was defined as >1.04. Results: Thirty-four percent of the predominantly Hispanic sample had unhealthy BMI z-scores of >1.04 correlating to at or greater than the 85th percentile for age and gender. The study cohort’s BMI z-scores significantly increased from 0.15 to 1.29 at year 3 (P < 0.0001), putting 55% of this population in the unhealthy category. Median BMI z-score significantly increased to the unhealthy category at 3 years. Conclusions: Due to the predominance of Hispanic patients in this group, culturally sensitive interventions beginning at diagnosis should be considered.

Pediatric Cancer Survivorship, Obesity, Health Disparities, Long-Term Side Effects, Hispanic Health

Morales, S. , Gotesman, M. , Su, E. , Yee, J. , Ruiz, M. , Friedlander, S. , Lasky III, J. and Panosyan, E. (2022) Increasing BMI Z-Scores 3 Years after Diagnosis among a Multiethnic Cohort of Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated in South Los Angeles. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 10, 141-151. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2022.103015.