Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Mar;22(3):e13129.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13129. Epub 2020 Aug 18.

Obesity in young children and its relationship with diagnosis of asthma, vitamin D deficiency, iron deficiency, specific allergies and flat-footedness: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Stephen Malden  1   2 , Jenny Gillespie  1 , Adrienne Hughes  1 , Ann-Marie Gibson  1 , Abdulaziz Farooq  3 , Anne Martin  4 , Carolyn Summerbell  5 , John J Reilly  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Obesity in young children and its relationship with diagnosis of asthma, vitamin D deficiency, iron deficiency, specific allergies and flat-footedness: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Stephen Malden et al. Obes Rev. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

There is evidence that a number of medical conditions and co-morbidities are associated with obesity in young children. This review explored whether there is evidence of associations with other conditions or co-morbidities. Observational studies of young children (mean age < 10 years) were identified using electronic searches of five databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, AMED and SPORTDiscus). Of 27 028 studies screened, 41 (comprising 44 comparisons) met the inclusion criteria. These studies provided data on five distinct diseases/conditions: asthma (n = 16), vitamin D deficiency (n = 10), iron deficiency (n = 10), allergies (n = 4) and flat-footedness (n = 4). Thirty-two studies were appropriate for meta-analysis using random-effects models, and revealed obesity was significantly associated with having asthma (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.7), vitamin D deficiency (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4-2.5) and iron deficiency (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2). Heterogeneity (I2 ) ranged from 57% to 61%. Narrative synthesis was conducted for all studies. There was no evidence of a consistent association between obesity in young children and eczema, dermatitis or rhinitis due to the low number of studies. However, there was an association with flat-footedness. These results have implications for health policy and practice and families. Further research leading to a greater understanding of the associations identified in this review is suggested.

Keywords: associations; childhood obesity; co-morbidities; meta-analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram for study identification and inclusion
Figure 2
Figure 2. Forest plot for random effects meta-analysis of studies investigating relationships between childhood obesity and asthma (OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Funnel plot for studies reporting on the relationship between obesity and asthma in Meta-analysis. (ES = effect size)
Figure 4
Figure 4. Forest plot for random effects meta-analysis of studies investigating relationships between childhood obesity and vitamin D deficiency
Figure 5
Figure 5. Forest plot for random effects meta-analysis of studies investigating relationships between childhood obesity and iron deficiency
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kelsey MM, Zaepfel A, Bjornstad P, Nadeau KJ. Age-related consequences of childhood obesity. Gerontology. 2014;60(3):222–228. - PubMed
    1. Reilly JJ, Kelly J. Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: systematic review. Int J Obes (Lond) 2011;35(7):891–898. - PubMed
    1. Sorof J, Daniels S. Obesity hypertension in children: a problem of epidemic proportions. Hypertension. 2002;40(4):441–447. - PubMed
    1. Meyer AA, Kundt G, Steiner M, Schuff-Werner P, Kienast W. Impaired flow-mediated vasodilation, carotid artery intima-media thickening, and elevated endothelial plasma markers in obese children: the impact of cardiovascular risk factors. Pediatrics. 2006;117(5):1560–1567. - PubMed
    1. Reilly JJ, Methven E, McDowell ZC, et al. Health consequences of obesity. Arch Dis Child. 2003;88(9):748–752. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types