177207 Childhood Body Mass Index and Injury from Motor Vehicle Crashes

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 5:10 PM

Keshia Pollack, PhD, MPH , Department of Health Policy and Management, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Dawei Xie, PhD , Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
Kristy B. Arbogast, PhD , Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Center for Injury Research and Prevention, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Dennis R. Durbin, MD, MSCE , Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Center for Injury Research and Prevention, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
  
Background: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions among America's youth. Limited epidemiologic studies have explored childhood obesity as a risk factor for leading causes of pediatric injury.

Methods: Data from 12/1/00 to 12/31/06 from the Partners for Child Passenger Safety study, a child-focused crash surveillance system, was used to explore if the risk and pattern of injury from motor vehicle crashes is related to child body mass index (BMI). The study sample included children 9-15 years of age, riding in parent-operated vehicles. Parent-reported height and weight was used to calculate the child's BMI. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was used to compute the change in odds of Abbreviated Injury Severity (AIS) 2+ (overall and body region specific) for each unit increase of BMI.

Results: There were 3,232 children in 2,873 vehicles, representing 54,616 children in 49,037 vehicles. Overweight or obese children more commonly sustained injuries to the head and upper/lower extremity body regions than leaner children. The odds of sustaining an AIS 2+ injury to the upper/lower extremity area was 1.07 (1.03 to 1.12), for each unit increase in BMI.

Conclusions: In addition to long-term health consequences of childhood overweight and obesity, physicians providing guidance to children and their families should highlight the immediate risk of injury during car crashes. To reduce the risk of injury from a crash, during transport children of all body sizes should use a restraint appropriate for their age and size, with all children under age 13 seated in the rear of the vehicle.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize childhood obesity as a risk factor for pediatric injuries during motor vehicle crashes - a leading cause of injury morbidity and morality. 2. Describe the methodological challenges of conducting research on childhood obesity and injury. 3. Identify the influence of physiology and biomechanics on the association between childhood obesity and the risk of injury during car crashes. 4. Discribe the importance of an immediate health consequence of childhood obesity, traumatic injuries. 5. Explain why children of all body sizes should use a restraint appropriate for their age and size during transport, with all children under age 13 seated in the rear of the vehicle.

Keywords: Motor Vehicles, Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conceptualized and participated in the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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