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  • Original Article
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Enuresis—an unattended comorbidity of childhood obesity

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 75–78 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), type 2 diabetes mellitus and psychopathological problems co-occur at increased rates among both obese and enuretic children. We hypothesized that the prevalence of enuresis will be increased in obese children and adolescents.

Design:

A cross-sectional study.

Subjects:

281 children and adolescents aged 7–18 years, who completed a questionnaire regarding enuresis, medical conditions and sociodemographic parameters; 158 were normal weight, 37 overweight (85th⩽BMI (body mass index)<95th percentiles) and 86 obese (BMI⩾95th percentile).

Main outcome measure(s):

Occurrence of enuresis among obese children and adolescents.

Results:

Enuresis was reported in 14 (8.8%) normal weight, 6 (16%) overweight and 26 (30%) obese youth. Odds ratio (OR)=6.5, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.67–15.78 for enuresis among obese compared with normal weight (P<0.0001). Each increment of one BMI-Z score unit was associated with an increased risk of enuresis, OR of 2.14, 95% CI (1.46–3.12), P=0.00008. Male gender (OR 2.84, 95% CI (1.10–5.58), P=0.028), first-degree relative with current/past enuresis (OR 4.24, 95% CI (1.62–11.08), P=0.003), voiding dysfunction symptoms (OR 3.067, 95% CI (1.05–9.00), P=0.041) and ADHD (OR 2.31, 95% CI (0.99–5.34), P=0.051) increased the risk of enuresis. OSA-related symptoms, academic achievements in school, sharing a bedroom, family size relative to number of rooms in home, parental education, family status and religious observance were not found to increase the risk for enuresis.

Conclusions:

Obese children are at increased risk for enuresis. Enuresis should be clarified during the primary workup of every obese child and adolescent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Endocrine and Diabetes Unit, Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Y Weintraub & O Pinhas-Hamiel

  2. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Y Weintraub, R Lubetzky & O Pinhas-Hamiel

  3. Maccabi Health Care Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    S Singer, D Alexander & S Hacham

  4. Clalit Health Care Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    G Menuchin

  5. Pediatrics, Dana Children's Hospital, Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel

    R Lubetzky

  6. Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    D M Steinberg

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  1. Y Weintraub
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  2. S Singer
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Correspondence to Y Weintraub.

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Weintraub, Y., Singer, S., Alexander, D. et al. Enuresis—an unattended comorbidity of childhood obesity. Int J Obes 37, 75–78 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.108

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