Children with Obesity and Asthma: Which Are the Best Options for Their Management?

Abstract

Obesity and asthma are complex disorders related to gene-environment interactions and various lifestyle factors. At present, they represent two of the most significant paediatric health problems worldwide, particularly in industrialized nations. The aim of this narrative review is to evaluate possible therapeutic strategies to manage asthma in children with overweight/obesity. PubMed was used to search for all of the studies published from January 2008 to June 2018 using the following key words: "asthma" and "overweight" or "obesity" or "obese" and "children" or "paediatric". The literature review showed that growing evidence underlines the existence of an "obese asthma" phenotype characterised by difficult-to-control asthma with additional symptoms, worse control, more frequent and severe exacerbations, reduced response to inhaled corticosteroids, and lower quality of life than other phenotypes. Currently, therapeutic strategies centred on prevention are suggested and the development of resources to assist families with weight loss strategies seems useful for effective weight control and optimal asthma management. Studies on vitamin D supplementation and further knowledge are needed to better define the best therapeutic options to manage asthma in children with overweight/obesity and to reduce the onset and severity of this chronic respiratory disease through the design of a multifactorial intervention.

Keywords: asthma; obesity; overweight; vitamin D; weight loss.