Page 57 - Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis Pathogenetic and Clinical aspects

Age
We found the same distribution of children with SCFE in different age groups as
reported in the other studies. All studies describe a peak in incidence around the
age of onset of puberty. In our group, the 609 patients with SCFE were divided
as follows: 5 % (29) in the 5- to 9-year-old group, 82 % (499) in the 10- to 14-year-
old group and 13 % (81) in the 15- to 19-year-old group (see Fig. 3). A majority
of studies describe a decrease in the mean age of onset during recent years.
Hagglund et al. [4] suggest that the decreasing age at onset of SCFE is probably 3 caused by the onset of puberty at an earlier age during the last century and by the
increased awareness of parents, the social environment and physicians, leading to an earlier diagnosis of SCFE.
Body length
In the Netherlands nation-wide growth studies have been conducted since 1955. The fifth Dutch Growth study was carried out between 2008 and 2010. These results can be compared to earlier studies in the Netherlands. Schonbeck et al. [13] report that there has been no increase in the body length of boys and girls between 1997 and 2009 in the Netherlands.
Body weight
Figures obtained from the Factsheet Results Fifth National Growth Study TNO (June 10, 2010) show that there has been a trend for an increase in overweight and obesity from 1997 to 2009. A comparison of data for the period 1997–2009 shows that 9.4 versus 13.3 % of Dutch boys and 11.9 versus 14.9 % of Dutch girls aged 2–21 years were overweight and 0.9 versus 1.8 % of the boys and 1.6 versus 2.2 % of the girls were classified as obese [13]. Although the boys have increased in body weight more than the girls, the incidence of SCFE for boys—but not for girls— seems to have stabilized. The increase of SCFE in girls in the past decade may also be due to these increases in body weight, but we have no data to support such a hypothesis for boys. Increasing obesity in adolescents has been found in many different countries, as has an increase in SCFE [2, 10, 11, 14]. In major cities in the Netherlands overweight prevalence has stabilized, with no increase in the body mass index, which leads to the hope that the rising trend in overweight is starting to turn [13].
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