Author(s)

Simon S. Rabinowitz, Sridhar Goli, Jiliu Xu, Xuchen Zhang, Anthony Nicastri, Virginia Anderson, Dimitre G. Stefanov, Steven M. Schwarz

Department of Pathology, State University of New York, New York, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, State University of New York, New York, USA.
Scientific Computing Center, State University of New York—Downstate Medical Center, New York, USA.

Objectives: Previous reports correlating obesity with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in children have yielded conflicting results. This study examined whether increasing BMI (body mass index) correlated with increasing grades of endoscopic and/or histopathologic GERD in a cohort of inner city children. Designs and Methods: 340 consecutive children (1 - 18 years) were classified as obese (BMI > 95%) for age and gender. Both endoscopic findings and esophageal histopathology were characterized by graded adult GERD scoring systems. Normal and abnormal grades were then stratified based on BMI. Results: In the study cohort (mean age 10.5 ± 4.7 yrs), 29% were obese (BMI > 95%) and 24% of the total cohort demonstrated endoscopic features of GERD. With increasing severity of endoscopic GERD (from normal to advanced), the percentage of obese patients at each grade did not increase (Grade 0 = 30%, Grade 1 = 26%, Grades 2 - 4 = 30%). Histopathologic findings consistent with GERD were noted in 21% of the total population studied. Again, the percentage of obese children in each diagnostic category (Grades 0 - 3) did not increase with increasing severity of inflammation. Conclusions: In this cohort of inner city children, obesity was not associated with an increased prevalence of GERD as defined by adult scoring systems.

Pediatric; GERD; Obesity; Endoscopy; Histopathology

Rabinowitz, S. , Goli, S. , Xu, J. , Zhang, X. , Nicastri, A. , Anderson, V. , Stefanov, D. and Schwarz, S. (2013) Lack of correlation between obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in a pediatric cohort. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 3, 317-323. doi: 10.4236/ojped.2013.34057.