Prospective clinical study of the skin markers in childhood obesity-an emerging pandemic

Introduction: Obesity poses an alarming threat to the children in recent days due to poor lifestyle and improper dietary habits. These children are at higher risk of developing Coronary artery diseases, Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus in their early thirties and emerge as an important public health problem. Childhood obesity manifests with a wide array of dermatological changes. In this study we analyzed the dermatological manifestations in the obese and overweight children in the age range of 5-14 years. Methods: All the children taken into the study were either obese or overweight as per WHO criteria of BMI according to the height and weight. Triceps skin fold thickness and waist circumference of these children were also taken for confirmation of obesity. Skin manifestations in these children were diagnosed by the dermatologists and plotted in graph. Results: Total 76 children were taken into the study out of which Acanthosis nigricans is the most common manifestation in the age group of 10-14 years and infections are most common in the age group of 5-9 years. Conclusion: The skin manifestations are the markers of chronic obesity in childhood having negative impact on the quality of life and imparting low self esteem among the peer group.