Steroid Use Increases the Risk of Overweight and Obesity in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

BackgroundCDC data show that the prevalence of obesity (BMI>95% for age) in the US is 18-20% in children and adolescents. Similarly, in New York City 17% of school children are obese. Intriguingly, even in children with IBD the rates of overweight/obesity were reported to be as high as 10-30%. Our goal was to examine the change in overweight/obesity rates among our diverse population of inner-city IBD patients after 1 year of therapy, and to evaluate the role of steroid therapy in accelerating obesity rates in IBD patients.