Changes in body mass index during treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia with the Nordic ALL2008 protocol

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  • Christina Egnell
  • Hanna Närhinen
  • Andrea Merker
  • Ólafur G. Jonsson
  • Kristi Lepik
  • Riitta Niinimäki
  • Schmiegelow, K.
  • Niklas Stabell
  • Birgitte Klug Albertsen
  • Goda Vaitkeviciene
  • Susanna Ranta
  • Arja Harila-Saari

Objectives: Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a tendency to gain weight during treatment. As overweight and obesity associate with health problems, prophylactic interventions are warranted. Therefore, it is important to identify the children most prone to gain weight. Methods: Patients aged 2.0–17.9 years at ALL diagnosis were identified from the NOPHO ALL2008 registry. Registry data was complemented with height and weight at the end of therapy from questionnaires. Body mass index (BMI) was classified according to international age- and sex-adjusted International Obesity Task Force BMI cut-offs. BMI values were transformed into standard deviation scores (SDS) to calculate the difference in BMISDS during treatment. Results: Data on BMI change were available for 765 children. Overweight and obesity doubled during treatment: 9.7% were overweight and 2.1% obese at diagnosis and 21.8% and 5.4% at the end of therapy, respectively. The mean BMISDS change was +0.64. Younger (2.0–5.9 years) and healthy weight children were most prone to become overweight (mean change in BMI SDS +0.85 and + 0.65, respectively). Conclusions: Younger children (2.0–5.9 years) with healthy weight at diagnosis were most prone to becoming overweight and therefore are an important group to target while considering interventions.

Original languageEnglish
Book seriesEuropean Journal of Haematology
Volume109
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)656-663
ISSN0902-4441
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Haematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

    Research areas

  • acute lymphoblastic leukemia, body mass index, children, obesity, overweight, support care

ID: 321482609