Obese children are more prone to leg, ankle, and foot injury.

A new pediatric study reveals that obese children are more prone to leg, ankle, and foot injury than other children their age. Dr. Wendy J. Pomerantz of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio and several of her colleagues studied the patient records from the emergency room in their hospital from January 2005 to March 2008. They noticed some very interesting trends. About 30% of obese children in their study had suffered from lower extremity injuries verses the 18% of normal weight children. On the other side of the spectrum the study showed that 15% of the normal weight children suffered from head injuries compared to 10% of the obese children. The study showed that over weight children often had a longer recovery time than other children. They also found that ankle sprains where twice as common among obese children as other children their age. Although the researchers didn’t have the information explaining how these children became injured the group hypothesized that obese children are more vulnerable during walking or running while normal weight children have an easier time playing sports that carry the risk of head injury.

Of course parents want to protect their children so these numbers might scare some parents into not letting their children be active. But this is not what the study was meant to do. We want children to be active but we want them to be safe about it. Obese children (just like adults) should ease into exercise and sports instead of jumping right in.

Pomerantz’s steps following this study are to figure out why these numbers are slated this way and try to find some protective measures to help keep children safe.

Attention Diabetics

Attention Diabetics, Have you checked your feet recently??

Here is a friendly reminder to check your feet today in case they have been overlooked this past winter. This is an easy exam you can do to see if you need a professional to look at your feet.

Check your feet: for cuts, punctures, irritation, or bruises.
- If you find any of these consult your podiatrist especially if these spots are red, warm or draining.

Check your shoes: make sure you don’t feel any sharp objects in your shoes that would poke your feet.
- If find anything remove it from your shoe and check again.

Check your circulation: push lightly on the tips of your toes that will be pink and reddish in color. The color should change to white when you lift your fingers and then back to pink-red in about 2-3 seconds.
- If the change does not take place right away there might be something affecting your blood flow and you should see your podiatrist asap.

Helpful tip for those with circulation problems… don’t cross your legs when you sit. This will make it even harder for your body to get blood to your feet.

Keep in mind to never put your feet into hot water… only warm water.

Check your feet today!! You never know what you will find.