Impact of Weight on Severity of Hospital Course in Children Admitted With COVID-19.

To describe the impact of weight on length of stay (LOS) and oxygen requirement among hospitalized children with COVID-19. This is a retrospective review of 153 children admitted for COVID-19 from March 2020 to October 2021. Body mass index (BMI) percentile and weight-for-age (WFA) percentile were used to determine weight status for children ≥2 years and <2 years respectively. We found 2 distinct patterns for patients <2 years and ≥2 years; The likelihood of needing oxygen and LOS ≥ 5 days was higher for children ≥2 years with BMI ≥ 85th percentile ( = .0415 and  = .0197). Among those <2 years, mean WFA percentile decreased with increasing oxygen need ( = .0325). There was a negative correlation between LOS and WFA percentile ( = -.31,  = .0123). It is important to stratify patients' risk according to their age, BMI and WFA percentile during hospitalization for COVID 19.