Association between obesity and asthma among teenagers
Keywords:
Asthma, Body weight, Obesity, Body mass index, AdolescentAbstract
CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Obesity and asthma are serious and growing problems. Since adipose tissue produces infl ammatory substances, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of asthma among students at schools in São José do Rio Preto (Phase 1), and to corroborate the hypothesis for an association between obesity and asthma among these students (Phase 2). DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study at Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (Famerp). METHODS: The study consisted of two successive and dependent stages. Phase I was a cross-sectional study on 4103 randomly selected students (13-14 years old), to determine the prevalence and severity of asthma. Phase II was an analytical cross-sectional study on 431 students (190 asthmatics and 231 non-asthmatics) from Phase I, to evaluate the hypothesis of an association between obesity measured by the body mass index (BMI) and asthma. To diagnose asthma and obesity, the criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and the chart from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC; 2000) were used. The data were analyzed using Student’s t test. RESULTS: We found that 5.6% of the students analyzed in Phase I were asthmatic. The BMI among the asthmatic students (21.84 kg/m2) was higher than the BMI among the nonasthmatics (21.73 kg/m2), although the p value was 0.766. CONCLUSION: In our study group, we did not fi nd any association between increased BMI and the prevalence of asthma.
Downloads
References
Frutuoso MFP, Bismarck-Nasr EM, Gambardella AMD. Redução do dispêndio energético e excesso de peso corporal em adolescentes. [Energy expenditure reduction and overweight in adolescents]. Rev Nutr. 2003;16(3):257-63.
Pereira LO, Francischi RP, Lancha Júnior AH. Obesidade: hábitos nutricionais, sedentarismo e resistência à insulina. [Obesity: dietary Intake, sedentarism and insulin resistance]. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2003;47(2):111-27.
Mello ED, Luft VC, Meyer F. Obesidade infantil: como podemos ser eficazes? [Childhood obesity: towards effectiveness]. J Pediatr (Rio J.). 2004;80(3):173-82.
Strock GA, Cottrell ER, Abang AE, Buschbacher RM, Han- non TS. Childhood obesity: a simple equation with complex variables. J Long Term Eff Med Implants. 2005;15(1):15-32
Mai XM, Böttcher MF, Leijon I. Leptin and asthma in over- weight children at 12 years of age. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2004;15(6):523-30.
Chen Y. Obesity and asthma in children. J Pediatr. 2004;144(2):146-7.
Stenius-Aarniala B, Poussa T, Kvarnström J, Grönlund EL, Ylikahri M, Mustajoki P. Immediate and long term effects of weight reduction in obese people with asthma: randomised controlled study. BMJ. 2000;320(7238):827-32.
Huang SL, Shiao G, Chou P. Association between body mass index and allergy in teenage girls in Taiwan. Clin Exp Allergy. 1999;29(3):323-9.
To T, Vydykhan TN, Dell S, Tassoudji M, Harris JK. Is obesity associated with asthma in young children? J Pediatr. 2004;144(2):162-8.
Cassol VE, Rizzato TM, Teche SP, et al. Prevalência e gravi- dade da asma em adolescentes e sua relação com índice de massa corporal. [Prevalence and severity of asthma among adolescents and their relationship with the body mass index]. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2005;81(4):305-9.
Solé D, Vanna AT, Yamada E, Rizzo MC, Naspitz CK. International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) written questionnaire: validation of the asthma component among Brazilian children. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 1998;8(6):376-82.
National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 2000 CDC Growth Charts: United States. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/growth-charts/. Accessed in 2008 (Jul 7).
Anzures López B. Alergia e inmunología pediátrica. Primeira parte: Asma. [Immunology and pediatric allergy. First part: Asthma]. Rev Med Hosp Gen Mex. 2001;64(4):251-8.
Antonio MAGM, Ribeiro JD, Contrera Toro AA, Piedrabuena AE, Morcillo AM. Avaliação do estado nutricional de crianças e adolescentes com asma. [Evaluation of the nutritional state of the children and adolescents with asthma]. Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2003;49(4):367-71.
Mauad T, Souza ASL, Saldiva PHN, Dolhnikoff M. Remodela- mento brônquico na asma. [Bronchial remodeling in asthma]. J Pneumol. 2000;26(2):91-8.
Shore SA, Johnston RA. Obesity and asthma. Pharmacol Ther. 2006;110(1):83-102.
Schachter LM, Salome CM, Peat JK, Woolcock AJ. Obesity is a risk for asthma and wheeze but not airway hyperresponsiveness. Thorax. 2001;56(1):4-8.
Schachter LM, Peat JK, Salome CM. Asthma and atopy in overweight children. Thorax. 2003;58(12):1031-5.
Brenner JS, Kelly CS, Wenger AD, Brich SM, Morrow AL. Asthma and obesity in adolescents: is there an association? J Asthma. 2001;38(6):509-15.
