Obese children more likely to suffer growth plate fractures

Obese children are 74 percent more likely to sustain a fracture of the growth plate, the softer end of the bone where growth occurs. A new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), involved 224 children visiting a Maryland hospital with a fracture. Information was collected on each patient regarding their sex, age, height, weight, fracture location and pattern. Patients ages 2 to 16 were divided into two groups for comparison: a "normal weight" group and an "obese/overweight" group for children with a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 85 percentile. Eurekalert!