Childhood obesity is associated with lifelong health
concerns, which are a financial burden to the individual as well
as to the health care system.4 Some of these consequences may
be preventable by early identification and treatment. Given the
health consequences of being OW and the increasing number
of children and adolescents who are OW, a strong investment
in the prevention of childhood obesity is needed. Previous
work by Morinder et al24 demonstrated the reproducibility of
the 6MWT in children and adolescents (8 – 16 years) who
were obese. To date, there are limited data on the effect of
being OW on 6MWT performance in young children (< 9
years of age). Additionally, OW is defined clinically as body
mass index (BMI) ≥ 85th percentile and < 95th percentile with
obesity classified as ≥ 95th percentile.26,27 While literature
exists on 6MWT performance in children who are obese