The aim of the study is to determine the impact of obesity in children with CHD which is severe enough to require invasive catheterisation.

This is a retrospective study in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory of a large paediatric hospital. The material consisted of 378 children from 2 to 19 years old who underwent heart catheterisation in the years 2011–2019. Their anthropometric data were collected, and the body mass index was calculated. The BMI centile was then calculated according to the Centers for Diseases Control (CDC). They were classified as overweight (85–95th centile), obese (> 95th centile), normal weight (5th–85 centile), and underweight (< 5th centile).

18.7% of children were underweight, 54.76% were normal weight, 11.64% were overweight, and 14.81% were obese. Overall, 26.45% of the children were overweight. Boys were more likely to have increased body weight than girls, but the difference was not statistically significant. The percentage of increased weight was similar in children with acyanotic CHD as well as heart disease from other causes. On the contrary, children with cyanotic heart disease were more likely to be younger and have a higher percentage of underweight children.

The rates of obesity and overweight in children with CHD depend on the sex, age, and cardiopathy type. In addition, they agree with the findings that have been published in international series studies for children with CHD.