Prevalence and Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease in the Pediatric Population of Tlaxcala, Mexico

Background In Mexico, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is notably high, affecting approximately 12–15% of the adult population, which is higher than the global average. The CKD reports in Mexico describe patients as young men without traditional risk factors for CKD, but including other risk factors, such as nephrotoxic exposure, dehydration, systemic infections, lifestyle, poor diet, and unhealthy habits. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors associated with CKD among the pediatric population of Tlaxcala, Mexico. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 914 adolescents from Tlaxcala, Mexico. All participants were subjected to a physical exam and a urinalysis. Blood sample for serum creatinine, and a sociodemographic questionnaire; the eGFR was estimated with the CKiDU25 equation. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate models were used to identify predictors. Results The median age was 13 years; 12.6% were obese. We found 168 children (18.4%) with urinary anomalies. On follow-up, only 123 agreed to participate, and we confirmed CKD in 49 participants, giving a prevalence of 53.6 cases per 10,000 for the age-related population Conclusion In this study, we observed a high prevalence of CKD in a young and supposedly healthy population. The participants who were overweight or obese presented a higher eGFR, suggesting a kidney hyperfiltration process. The older participants and males presented a decrease in the eGFR. Our findings highlight the importance of male sex and BMI or WtHR as predictive variables for CKD prognosis. However, more studies are needed to determine other possible causes.