High body mass index and dietary pattern are associated with childhood asthma.

Full Abstract

The increasing prevalence of asthma has coincided with an increase of body mass index (BMI) in both children and adults. We investigated the relationship between BMI and the symptom prevalence of asthma and the possible influences of dietary pattern. This was a community-based, cross-sectional study of 24,260 school children aged 6-12 years. Prevalences of asthma and potential confounding factors were assessed using a Korean version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire which was completed by parents. We analyzed the relationship between BMI and symptoms of asthma and the possible influences of dietary pattern. A significant positive association between high BMI and previous 12-month prevalence of wheeze remained in boys (adjusted odds ratio, 1.610; 95% confidence interval, 1.274-2.033) but not in girls. In addition, there were significant associations between high BMI and lifetime prevalence of wheeze, previous 12-month wheeze, exercise-induced wheeze, diagnosis, and treatment of asthma. There were significant associations between high BMI and previous 12-month wheeze regardless of breast-milk feeding or whole-milk feeding. Frequent intake of fresh seafood, fresh fruits, and vegetables was associated with reduced prevalence of current asthma symptoms and was also associated with decreased BMI. These results indicate that BMI may be an independent risk factor for the development of asthma symptoms in boys. Intake of fresh seafood, fresh fruit, and vegetables, which may be associated with decreased BMI, may contribute to protect against the development of asthma symptoms in Korean elementary schoolchildren.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Hong, Soo-Jong (SJ); Lee, Moo-Song (MS); Lee, Soo-Young (SY); Ahn, Kang-Mo (KM); Oh, Jae-Won (JW); Kim, Kyu-Earn (KE); Lee, Joon-Sung (JS); Lee, Ha-Baik (HB); for the Korean ISAAC Study Group, Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease, Seoul, Korea;

Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Pediatric pulmonology (Pediatr Pulmonol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 41 (issue 12) : pp 1118-24

Dates: Created 2006/11/02; Completed 2007/02/06;

PMID: 17068825, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Asthma - epidemiology; etiology
Body Mass Index
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Food Habits
Humans
Korea - epidemiology

Korea - epidemiology
Male
Prevalence
Prognosis
Questionnaires
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sex Factors

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.