New Study Reveals Obese Children Face Higher Risks in Vehicle Strikes
Obese Children Are Three Times More Likely to Sustain a Major Abdominal Injury in Pedestrian Motor Vehicle Strike Accidents
Obese children are more likely to experience severe injury and nearly three times more likely to sustain a major abdominal injury in pedestrian motor vehicle strike accidents, according to a new study by Nisha Lakhi, M.D., M.B.A., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, published in Pediatric Emergency Care.
“Children struck by motor vehicles is a leading cause of childhood injury and the eighth highest cause of death from injury among children and adolescents,” explains Dr. Lakhi, who conducted the study alongside Hannah Mulvihill, M.D. ’23 and Katie Roster, M.D. ’24. “Given the increasing nature of childhood obesity, it is critical to understand how trauma may affect those individuals differently so that those patients can be triaged appropriately to minimize serious injury and death.”
For the retrospective study, records of patients between the ages of two and 17 who were pedestrians injured by a motor vehicle and later treated at a New York urban medical center were examined.
“There has been a lot of controversy as to how obesity affects the severity of trauma outcomes with some studies suggesting obesity may be protective, due to a ‘cushioning effect’ provided by the additional adiposity, while other studies illustrate worse injuries due to the larger mass of the obese individual creating an increased forward momentum,” says Dr. Lakhi. “Our results supported the momentum theory, given that the obese children sustained more severe injuries, especially involving the abdomen, where we would expect obesity to provide the most ‘cushioning.’”
Dr. Lakhi and her research team plan to expand their study using a national database to examine a much larger population.
“With pedestrian motor vehicle accidents a leading cause of injury and death in children and adolescents, the most important thing we can do is prevention,” cautions Dr. Lakhi. “Parents, pediatricians, and teachers need to take the time to educate children about this potential hazard. Simple interventions, such as putting the phone away when crossing the street, obeying the crosswalk signals, and being aware, even if it is ‘your right of way,’ may decrease the risk of a fatal injury.”
