What to know
- Presentation Day/Time: Tuesday, April 22, 10:55 am–12:20 pm
- Presenter: Rachel Alade, MD, MS, EIS officer assigned to the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders
What did we do?
- We estimated and compared the national prevalence of elevated body mass index (BMI) and low physical activity among children with and without congenital heart conditions (CHC).
What did we find?
- An analysis of nationally representative data on 57,080 children aged 6–17 years from the National Survey on Children's Health (2021–2022) found that 2% of children had CHC.
- Elevated BMI prevalence was similar between children with (31.5%) and without (33.7%) CHC.
- Low physical activity prevalence was slightly higher among children with CHC (84.0%) compared to those without CHC (80.0%).
- Among children with CHC, Hispanic, those with lower household income, and those with caregivers with less than a high school education had 1.5–1.6 times the prevalence of elevated BMI; there were no demographic differences in low physical activity.
Why does it matter?
- Of U.S. children with CHC, one-third had elevated BMI and over 80% had low physical activity, further increasing their risk for accelerated atherosclerotic disease.
- Pediatricians and cardiologists can collaboratively support their patients in meeting healthy BMI and physical activity recommendations.
Abstract Category: Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health