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Childhood obesity and skeletal maturation assessed with Fishman's hand-wrist analysis.

Akridge M, Hilgers KK, Silveira AM, Scarfe W, Scheetz JP, Kinane DF

School of Dentistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky, USA.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine whether increased body mass index is associated with accelerated skeletal maturation. METHODS: The skeletal ages of 107 children, aged 9 to 16 years, were determined by using Fishman's hand-wrist analysis. The difference between chronologic age and dental age was analyzed against body mass index, sex, and age. RESULTS: The mean differences between chronologic and skeletal ages for normal weight, overweight, and obese subjects were 0.51 years, 0.44 years, and 1.00 years, respectively. Although there was a trend for obese subjects to have accelerated skeletal maturation compared with overweight and normal-weight subjects, the difference was not statistically significant. Skeletal age differences significantly decreased with increasing age. The mean skeletal age differences were 0.90 year for 9- to 13-year-olds and 0.26 year for 13- to 16-year-olds. Mean skeletal age did not differ significantly by sex. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight or obese children did not have significantly accelerated skeletal maturation after adjusting for age and sex.

Published 13 August 2007 in Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop, 132(2): 185-90.
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