Obesity Among Children and Adolescents With Primary Headache Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Case-Control Study

Abstract

Primary headache disorders are common in the pediatric population, and a possible association with obesity has been suggested. In this cross-sectional case-control study data were collected on 137 patients from the Pediatric Headache Outpatient Clinic, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Denmark. Patients with primary headache completed questionnaires concerning headache characteristics and underwent a physical examination with height and weight measurements. Headache patients were compared to 122 healthy controls who completed the same examinations. Healthy controls were recruited from schools on Zealand, Denmark. The study did not find any significant differences in body mass index z score, neither between patients with headache and healthy controls, nor between patients with migraine and tension-type headache. The study did not find any association between obesity and primary headache. Future studies on association between obesity and primary headache disorders within the pediatric population are needed.