A Comparative Study of “OBESE” CHILDREN Selected on the Basis of FAT PADS

Of the 414 children included in the Forsyth Child Growth Program, 39 children (26 girls and 13 boys, ranging in age from 5 through 14 years) were selected for special investigation on the basis of fat pads or folds in at least two of three body regions as seen in somatotype pictures. A control group of 50 children (26 girls and 24 boys, ranging in age from 4 through 14 years) was selected at random for comparative purposes. Data were gathered and analyzed for a number of medical, anthropomorphic, and psycho-social variables. Analysis of these data showed that: Height and weight deviations were markedly dissimilar, with 95 per cent of the fat-pad group exceeding the age norms in weight, while only 59 per cent were comparably above the norms in stature. Tooth emergence data showed 72 per cent of the sample as advanced, and 65 per cent of the sample were advanced in bone age. Of the fat-pad children beyond the prepuberal age, 56.5 per cent were advanced in sexual maturation. Fat-pad boys and girls were significantly different in measurements of diastolic blood pressure. Fat-pad boys had significantly higher diastolic pressures than control boys. Systolic blood pressures were not found to be significantly different between fat-pad and control children or between boys and girls. No real differences between the fat-pad and control children could be found in their mental and locomotor development. Only the fat-pad and control boys yielded a significant difference in age of eruption of deciduous dentition, with the control boys the earliest. The diets of fat-pad children were not excessive either in calories or fat-building substances; the Forsyth fat-pad group as a whole did not overeat. Familial background, social environment, ethnic origin, and a tendency to fatness in the mother were not found to be contributory factors. The fat-pad children came from smaller families than did the control children. A larger percentage of them than of the control children had, for a period of at least 7 years, been in the position of “baby” of the family. The weight gain of the mother during pregnancy, and the birth weight of the child do not appear to be associated with the development of obesity in the offspring. Fifty per cent of the children selected on the basis of fat pads were considered obese on the basis of a medical evaluation, and 59 per cent of them consistently increased their percentile ratings of weight during the time they were observed. An examination of the il