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. 2025 Aug 27:8901171251370666.
doi: 10.1177/08901171251370666. Online ahead of print.

Obesity and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Among Pediatric Patients at a Mississippi Academic Medical Center

Kisa K Harris  1   2 , Brian D Christman  3   4 , William B Hillegass  4   5 , Crystal S Lim  6 , E Thomaseo Burton  7 , Sabahat Afshan  8 , Xiaojian Liu  4 , Shanda W Sandridge  8 , Michael Welsch  2 , Lei Zhang  4   9 , Ramona Sandlin  10 , Bernadette Grayson  2 , Abigail Gamble  2   3   11
Affiliations

Obesity and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Among Pediatric Patients at a Mississippi Academic Medical Center

Kisa K Harris et al. Am J Health Promot. .

Abstract

PurposeAssess obesity and cardiometabolic disease risk factors among a high-risk pediatric population.DesignObservational, cross-sectional study using electronic medical records (EMR).SettingThe only academic medical center in Mississippi.SampleData were extracted for children and adolescents aged 2 through 19 years treated in primary care from 2013-2023.MeasuresMeasures of height, weight, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and hemoglobin A1c were categorized to determine the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia.AnalysesMultivariable regression models were used to establish the association between age- and sex-adjusted body mass index z-score (zBMI) and demographic characteristics. Outcomes were explored by race/ethnicity, sex, age, insurance type, visit year, and rurality.ResultsThe study sample included 38 275 participants (M age = 8.9 years, SD = 5.3; 48.7% female; 45.4% non-Hispanic Black [NHB]). Half of NHB females aged 12 through 19 were either overweight (19.0 %), obese (15.9%), or severely obese (14.9%). Age was positively associated with BMI z-score (P < 0.001). Nearly 40% of all participants with a blood pressure (BP) reading had a measure consistent with elevated BP (17.1%) or hypertension (22.1%). NHB males with severe obesity had the highest prevalence of stage II hypertension (12.3%).ConclusionsThe distribution of mean zBMI values greater than zero indicated that this pediatric population contained a larger proportion of individuals with obesity than the age- and sex-matched reference population. Intervention in NHB females aged 2 through 9 with severe obesity may present the best opportunity for the prevention of severe obesity and hypertension.

Keywords: cardiometabolic risk factors; electronic health records; health disparity; pediatric obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interest:

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Cross-sectional zBMI by Age.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Cross-sectional Systolic Blood Pressure by Age.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Cross-sectional Diastolic Blood Pressure by Age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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