Obese kids have more asthma flare-ups

Shaving off extra pounds might help asthmatic kids prevent flare-ups of the disease, according to a study that found obese children have a harder time controlling their symptoms.

The work is the first to show that even after taking race and social factors into account, heavier kids use more drugs to control their asthma and curb flare-ups than their slimmer peers.

"Improving nutritional status, preventing obesity, and stressing the importance of weight loss might improve asthma control and exacerbation risk in children and decrease the incidence of asthma in adults," researchers write in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Both asthma and obesity rates have soared among kids in recent decades, reaching nearly 10 percent and 17 percent today, respectively.

While some studies have hinted at a link between the two conditions, conclusions on whether heavier kids also have more severe asthma than others have been mixed.

Background The association between obesity and asthma severity and control in children is not well understood.

Objective

The objective of this study was to examine the association of childhood body mass index (BMI) percentile for age of 85% or greater with the number of β-agonist canisters dispensed, corticosteroid courses, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for asthma.

Methods

A retrospective cohort of 32,321 children aged 5 to 17 years and given a diagnosis of asthma who received at least 1 asthma (controller or rescue) medication and were enrolled in Kaiser Permanente from 2004-2008 was identified. Outcomes from electronic medical records included β-agonist canister and nebulizer units dispensed per year, hospitalizations and emergency department visits for asthma exacerbations, and oral corticosteroid courses. Potential confounding factors known to influence asthma outcomes were also collected: demographics, parental education level, asthma controller use, gastroesophageal reflux disease diagnosis, and diabetes mellitus diagnosis. Multiple logistic regression models were used to measure the independent association of BMI status with outcomes.

Results

Even after adjusting for demographics, parental education level, asthma controller use, and gastroesophageal reflux disease and diabetes mellitus diagnoses, overweight (BMI percentile for age, 85% to 94%) and obese (BMI percentile for age, ≥95%) children were more likely to have increased β-agonists dispensed (odds ratio of 1.15 [95% CI, 1.02-1.27] and odds ratio of 1.17 [95% CI, 1.06-1.29], respectively) and increased risk for oral corticosteroids dispensed (odds ratio of 1.21 [95% CI, 1.13-1.29] and odds ratio of 1.28 [95% CI, 1.21-1.36], respectively) compared with normal-weight (BMI percentile for age, 16% to 84%) children.