Prevalence of Lower Extremities' Postural Deformities in Overweight and Normal Weight School Children

Abstract

Background: The increasing trend of both obesity and postural disorders in pediatric population. Objectives: We aimed to determine the prevalence of lower extremities' postural disorders among school children in Qom province, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a representative sample of schoolchildren aged 6 - 7 years was selected by multi-stage clustering method from all urban and rural regions of Qom province. Presence of postural deformities of lower limbs, including genu valgum, genu varum and flat foot were evaluated and recorded. Prevalences of deformities in different categories of weight status (underweight, normal and overweight) were compared. Results: Out of 20000 school children 1450 students were randomly selected. Genu valgum, genu varum and flat foot was present in 256 (17.7), 351 (24.2) and 194 (13.38) of studied population. 1021 (70.41), 161 (11.1) and 268 (18.48) students were normal weight, underweight and overweight/obese, respectively. Prevalence of flat foot and genu valgum was significantly higher in obese overweight students (P < 0.01). Mean of skin fold thickness was significantly higher in students with genu valgum (P < 0.001). A significant relation existed only between occurrence of lower limb postural deformities and body mass index OR = 1.89, CI (95%) = 1.18 - 3.03. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that prevalence of genu valgum and flat foot are higher in overweight/obese children. In addition to early diagnosis and timely treatment of the deformities, developing and validation of a multidisciplinary care for obese and overweight children to reduce the occurrence of obesity related musculoskeletal complications is of importance.