Prevalence of Adolescents Meeting Criteria for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Background And Objectives: The American Academy of Pediatrics endorses metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) as a safe and effective treatment of severe obesity in children with class 3 obesity or with class 2 obesity and qualifying comorbidities. The study objective was to determine eligibility and characteristics of adolescents who qualify for MBS based on American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed electronic health record data of 603 051 adolescents aged 13 to 17 years between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021.

Higher body mass index after intrapartum antibiotic exposure in children persists over 10-years.

Exposure to intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis to reduce perinatal group B streptococcal disease was associated with increased childhood body mass index (BMI) persisting to age 10 years compared to no exposure (Δ BMI at 10 years: vaginal delivery 0.14 kg/m , caesarean 0.40 kg/m ).

Association of High Normal Body Weight in Youths With Risk of Hypertension.

Importance: Ample evidence links obesity to hypertension in youths. However, the association of high normal body mass index (BMI) with obesity and the interaction with different weight trajectories are not well understood.

Objective: To examine the hypertension risk associated with high normal BMI for age and different weight trajectories in youths.

Disparities in weight changes during the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown in youths.

Objective: This study evaluates whether changes in weight among school-aged youth in California due to the COVID-19 lockdown vary by social constructs of race/ethnicity and associated social factors.

Methods: Including 160,472 youth aged 5 to 17 years enrolled at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, mixed effects models stratified by age group were fitted to estimate changes in distance from the median BMI-for-age from March 2020 to January 2021 (lockdown) compared with the same period before the pandemic.

Results: Excess pandemic weight gain was higher among Black and Hispanic youth aged 5 to 17 years than among White and Asian youth; this difference was most pronounced in those aged 5 to 11 years.