More than just body mass index: Using the Edmonton obesity staging system for pediatrics to define obesity severity in a multi-ethnic Australian pediatric clinical cohort

Faye Southcombe; Sinthu Vivekanandarajah; Slavica Krstic; Fang Lin; Paul Chay; Mandy Williams; Jahidur Rahman Khan; Nan Hu; Valsa Eapen; Sarah Dennis; Elizabeth Denney-Wilson; Raghu Lingam

doi:10.1002/osp4.648

More than just body mass index: Using the Edmonton obesity staging system for pediatrics to define obesity severity in a multi-ethnic Australian pediatric clinical cohort

Obes Sci Pract. 2022 Dec 23;9(3):285-295. doi: 10.1002/osp4.648. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Faye Southcombe^{1

2}, Sinthu Vivekanandarajah¹, Slavica Krstic^{1

2}, Fang Lin^{1

2}, Paul Chay¹, Mandy Williams¹, Jahidur Rahman Khan³, Nan Hu^{3

4}, Valsa Eapen^{1

4

5}, Sarah Dennis^{1

2

5}, Elizabeth Denney-Wilson², Raghu Lingam^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ South Western Sydney Local Health District Sydney New South Wales Australia.
² Faculty of Medicine and Health The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia.
³ School of Clinical Medicine University of NSW Sydney New South Wales Australia.
⁴ School of Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine University of NSW Sydney New South Wales Australia.
⁵ Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research Liverpool New South Wales Australia.

Abstract

Background: Despite advancements in the use of body mass index (BMI) to categorize obesity severity in pediatrics, its utility in guiding individual clinical decision making remains limited. The Edmonton Obesity Staging System for Pediatrics (EOSS-P) provides a way to categorize the medical and functional impacts of obesity according to the severity of impairment. The aim of this study was to describe the severity of obesity among a sample of multicultural Australian children using both BMI and EOSS-P tools.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included children aged 2-17 years receiving obesity treatment through the Growing Health Kids (GHK) multi-disciplinary weight management service in Australia between January to December 2021. BMI severity was determined using the 95th percentile for BMI on age and gender standardized Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts. The EOSS-P staging system was applied across the four health domains (metabolic, mechanical, mental health and social milieu) using clinical information.

Results: Complete data was obtained for 338 children (age 10.0 ± 3.66 years), of whom 69.5% were affected by severe obesity. An EOSS-P stage 3 (most severe) was assigned to 49.7% of children, the remaining 48.5% were assigned stage 2 and 1.5% were assigned stage 1 (least severe). BMI predicted health risk as defined by EOSS-P overall score. BMI class did not predict poor mental health.

Conclusion: Used in combination, BMI and EOSS-P provide improved risk stratification of pediatric obesity. This additional tool can help focus resources and develop comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment plans.

Keywords: child; health risk; obesity; pediatric; treatment.