Association between Enuresis and Body Mass Index in Schoolchildren

Background Automatic release of urine at any time of a day during sleep beyond the age of five years defined enuresis as a health disorders in children. The etiology of enuresis is still not clearly understood. Body Mass Index (BMI) is an indicator to evaluate the growth trend of individuals in a population for any specific age group. Evaluation of obesity in children is important and provides an opportunity to identify the problem and prevent disease progression. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of enuresis and the association with BMI. Materials and Methods The study was a cross-sectional survey based on specific age group population to determine the prevalence of enuresis conducted on the schoolchildren in Zahedan, Iran during December 2015 and February 2016. A random, multistage sample of 2,000 students was taken from fifty schools in five districts of Zahedan city and filled out some easy questions such as age and gender along with measuring weight and height. Body Mass Index categorized after calculation accordance with the formulae of BMI=Height (kg) / Weight (m)(2). The classification of BMI was accordance with percentiles of underweight in less than the 5th percentile, healthy level from the 5th to less than 85th percentile, overweight from the 85th to less than the 97th percentile and obese equal to or greater than the 97th percentile. Results The prevalence of enuresis was 17.18% for boys and 11.82% for girls, and the overall prevalence was 140 in 1000. Enuresis and non- enuresis population were different in mean of BMI (15.51 +/- 3.92 versus 17.69 +/- 5.11), so that this differential were statistically significant (P<0.001). In two overweight and obesity status can be observed the differences in BMI values, but not significant. In normal status with (22.63 +/- 1.096) and without (22.742 +/- 1.096) enuresis, there was a significant difference (P<0.001) and in the underweight status with (11.28 +/- 0.80) and without (10.53 +/- 2.08) enuresis there also was a significant difference (P=0.010). Conclusion Our findings revealed that enuresis was a problem among schoolchildren, especially with smaller age and lower body mass index.