Obesity and asthma: an association modified by age

Abstract

Background: Some studies indicate some causal relationship between obesity and asthma, while others show inconsistent results. Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of asthma according to obesity in children.

Methods: A cross-sectional study, following the ISAAC study methodology, was conducted on two randomly selected groups consisting of 6-7 year-old children (n=7485) and 13-14 year-old adolescents (n=8496). The asthma symptoms and potential risk factors were determined from the questionnaire. Overweight and obesity were defined based on the body mass index. Multiple logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted prevalence odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Obesity was associated with an increase in wheezing ever (OR: 1.35) and exercise-induced asthma (OR: 1.62) in the 6-7 year-old group. No significant relationship was observed in the adolescent population.

Conclusion: Obesity was associated with a higher prevalence of asthma in young children, but not in adolescents.