Hospitalization rate rises for childhood obesity-related causes

NEW YORK Hospitalizations related to childhood obesity nearly doubled between 1999 and 2005, according to a new study.

The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, found that the number of children hospitalized with obesity and related complications including diabetes, asthma, skin infections and certain mental disorders increased from 21,743 in 1999 to 42,429 in 2005, with an increase in costs from $125.9 million to $237.6 million.

The researchers found the results using data on 3.1 million discharges of patients aged 2 to 19 from the government’s Nationwide Inpatient Sample collected between 1999 and 2005.