Asthma twice as common among obese children

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Friday, July 30, 2004 10:10 am Email this article
Asthma was diagnosed by a physician roughtly twice as often among obese children compared to non-obese children according to a new study from Israel.

Physicians diagnosed 7.2 percent of obese children as having asthma compared to 3.9 percent of non-obese children.

Inhaler use was also roughly twice as common among obese children as non-obese children—15.9 percent versus 8.8 percent.

Symptoms were more prevalent among obese boys than girls.

The study involved 5984 children, 302 of which were above the 95th percentile for BMI for their age and gender which is considered obese.

REFERENCE

Bibi H, Shoseyov D, Feigenbaum D, Genis M, Friger M, Peled R, Sharff S. The relationship between asthma and obesity in children: is it real or a case of over diagnosis? J Asthma. 2004 Jun, 41(4):403-10.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

H. Bibi
Department of Pediatrics
Barzilai Medical Center
Ashkelon, Israel
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Asthma

• Childhood Obesity