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Childhood obesity as a risk factor for bone fracture: A mechanistic study
Author(s) -
Kim JongEun,
Hsieh MinHeng,
Soni Bharat K.,
Zayzafoon Majd,
Allison David B.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.20355
Subject(s) - medicine , obesity , risk factor , bone fracture , fracture (geology) , soft tissue , body mass index , childhood obesity , child obesity , adipose tissue , orthodontics , surgery , overweight , geology , radiology , geotechnical engineering
Objective To investigate the risk of bone fracture sustained by obese children exposed to falls. The bone fracture risk of obese children would be greater than that of their nonobese counterparts was hypothesized. Design and Methods Finite element‐based computational models for children that reflected various levels of obesity by varying body mass and the thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue layer was developed. The models took account of both the momentum effect of variation of body mass and the cushion effect of variation of soft tissue thickness and examined these two contradictory effects on pelvic bone fracture risk through a set of sideways fall simulations with a range of impact speeds. Results The critical impact speed that yielded pelvic bone fracture decreased as the levels of obesity increased, which meant that the momentum effect of a greater body mass took precedence over the cushion effect of the soft tissue layer. Conclusions The result suggests that obese children have a greater risk of pelvic bone fracture than do their nonobese counterparts in sideways falls. A further implication is that current child safety devices, systems, and regulations will need to be revisited as the prevalence of child obesity increases.