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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Examining the temporal relationships between childhood obesity and asthma
1Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 980430, Richmond, VA, 23298, United States.
Insights
Childhood asthma may precede obesity, with past asthma linked to BMI changes. However, obesity onset doesn't predict new asthma, suggesting asthma might influence weight gain.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Chronic Disease Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood obesity and pediatric asthma are significant public health concerns.
- Existing research often assumes a one-way link from obesity to asthma, using limited cross-sectional data.
- The potential bidirectional relationship and asthma's impact on physical activity remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the bidirectional relationship between childhood obesity and pediatric asthma.
- To examine if asthma influences weight changes via physical or sedentary activity.
- To test the hypothesis that obesity precedes asthma onset.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K).
- Employed longitudinal analysis to explore bidirectional associations between asthma and Body Mass Index (BMI).
- Assessed the influence of asthma on physical and sedentary activity levels.
Main Results:
- Past asthma levels positively correlated with BMI changes and obesity onset.
- New onset asthma correlated with subsequent BMI changes, but not vice versa.
- Obesity onset did not predict subsequent asthma onset; however, lagged weight status related to asthma prevalence.
- Little evidence found linking asthma to changes in physical or sedentary activity.
Conclusions:
- The relationship between childhood asthma and obesity appears bidirectional, with asthma potentially preceding weight gain.
- Asthma's influence on weight fluctuations may not be mediated by changes in physical or sedentary activity.
- Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the asthma-obesity link.
Abstract:
Childhood obesity has become an issue of increasing concern to health researchers and policymakers in the United States. One important chronic health condition linked to obesity is pediatric asthma. Although researchers have speculated that both conditions may have common origins, the majority of research in this area has focused on a unidirectional relationship between obesity and later asthma. However, much of the literature is limited by its reliance on cross-sectional data and its failure to examine the possibility that asthma may influence weight fluctuations through changes in physical and sedentary activity. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), I explore the bidirectional relationships between childhood obesity and asthma. The results in this paper suggest that past asthma levels are positively correlated with changes in BMI and the onset of obesity. However, only new onset asthma is positively correlated with subsequent changes in BMI. The potential mechanisms are unclear, as I find little evidence that asthma is structurally related to changes in physical or sedentary activity over time. When testing the prevailing hypothesis that obesity is related to subsequent asthma, I find that lagged weight status is strongly related to asthma prevalence levels but that the onset of overweight or obesity is not associated with the subsequent onset of asthma. These results suggest that the onset of asthma may be related to subsequent weight gain over time.
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