The Relationship Between Asthma and Obesity in Urban Minority Children and Adolescents

Overview

Journal Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med

Publisher American Medical Association

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 1998 Dec 18

PMID 9856429

Citations 59

Authors

J Gennuso

L H Epstein

R A Paluch

F Cerny

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between asthma and obesity in children and adolescents.

Design: Medical record review.

Setting: Urban community health center.

Participants: One hundred seventy-one children aged 4 to 16 years, 85 with asthma and 86 nonasthmatic controls.

Main Outcome Measures: Diagnosis of asthma, age, and sex-adjusted body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters).

Results: Seventy-eight percent of the sample was Hispanic, 17% was African American, 2% were white, and 3% were other minorities. There were significantly more children with asthma (30.6%) who were very obese (> or =95th body mass index percentile) compared with controls (11.6%) (P=.004). Children with asthma were also significantly more overweight than controls (mean+/-SD, 22.5%+/-28.3% vs 12.0%+/-19.6% overweight; P=.004). The difference in obesity between children with asthma and controls was significant for both sexes and across the 4.5 to 10.9 years and 11 to 16 years age groups. Asthma severity was not related to obesity.

Conclusion: Asthma is a risk factor for obesity in children and adolescents.

Citing Articles

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Pediatric Obesity-Related Asthma: The Role of Nutrition and Nutrients in Prevention and Treatment.

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Gao Z, Satchell M, Haley D, Olson K Dela J Public Health. 2021; 3(1):6-9.

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Relationship between cough reflex sensitivity and body mass index in children with chronic cough - a pilot study.

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E-Cigarette Use Associated With Asthma Independent of Cigarette Smoking and Marijuana in a 2017 National Sample of Adolescents.

Wills T, Choi K, Pagano I J Adolesc Health. 2020; 67(4):524-530.

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