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Published on: February 2, 2017

A case-control study of body mass index and asthma in Asian children

Stanislav Henkin1, Doug Brugge, Odilla I Bermudez

  • 1Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 21111, USA.

Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology : Official Publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology
|June 4, 2008
PubMed

Insights

This study found no significant link between body mass index (BMI) and asthma in Asian American children. Further research is needed to understand this relationship in pediatric populations.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Allergy and Immunology

Background:

  • Rising rates of obesity and asthma in the US.
  • Limited research on the obesity-asthma link in Asian Americans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and asthma in Asian American children.
  • To analyze BMI in relation to asthma diagnosis in a pediatric cohort.

Main Methods:

  • Case-control study using medical records of 94 pediatric patients.
  • Comparison of BMI in children with and without asthma, before and after diagnosis.
  • Statistical analysis adjusted for allergic comorbidities.

Main Results:

  • No statistically significant association found between BMI measures and asthma.
  • Adjusted odds ratio for asthma with BMI above the 85th percentile was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.40-2.20).

Conclusions:

  • Overweight/obesity may not be a direct cause of asthma in Asian immigrant children.
  • Methodological limitations may have affected the ability to detect an association.
  • Further research is recommended to clarify the relationship in this demographic.
Abstract

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