Maduración ósea en niños y adolescentes con obesidad

Objective: To evaluate bone maturation in obese children and to compare the findings from the Venezuelan atlas of bone maturation and the international atlas of Greulich.Pyle. Methods: The data of 30 obese children aged between 1 and 12 years, including weight, height, sex, chronological age, bone age and socioeconomic level were collected, in a cross-sectional study. To evaluate the bone age were used the Atlas of Greulich-Pyle method as an international pattern (IP) and the Venezuelan bone maturation atlas as the national pattern (NP). The student t test and linear regression analysis were the statistical analysis applied. Results: There was higher prevalence of male 56,7% (n=17) and the social strata IV, 63,3% (n=19). The most of the children had advancement in their bone maturation. With the NP, the 60% (n=18) of the children showed advanced bone age, and with the IP, only the 23,3% (n=7), being a statistically significant difference (p=0.0001). No relationship was found with age, sex and socioeconomic status. Conclusions: It ratifies an advancement of bone maturation in obese children. The reference for assessing bone age should be the NP, given the particular characteristics of bone growth and maturation of the Venezuelan child.