High Rates of Obesity at Presentation Persist into Survivorship across Childhood Cancer Types

Background: Subtypes of pediatric oncology patients and childhood cancer survivors who are overweight or obese have worse prognosis than their healthy-weighted peers. Several studies have examined weight status in either pediatric patients or survivors with acute leukemia, but few have compared these data across various diagnoses. Objectives: We examined BMI from oncology diagnosis or presentation, through treatment, and into survivorship across the most common cancer types seen in pediatric oncology. Methods: Patients were categorized into three oncologic diagnoses: leukemia and lymphoma (n = 69), neural tumors (n = 80), and non-neural solid tumors (n = 80) at yearly intervals over the course of 11 years. To allow for comparisons across age groups, BMI percentiles were calculated with