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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Childhood obesity and asthma control in the GALA II and SAGE II studies
Luisa N Borrell1, Elizabeth A Nguyen, Lindsey A Roth
1Department of Health Sciences, Graduate Program in Public Health, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY, USA. luisa.borrell@lehman.cuny.edu
Insights
Obesity is linked to worse asthma control in boys. For girls, the relationship between obesity and asthma control differs by race and ethnicity, with African American girls experiencing better control and Mexican American girls experiencing worse control.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Environmental Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Obesity is a known risk factor for increased asthma morbidity and reduced response to inhaled corticosteroids.
- Previous studies on obesity and asthma control have largely excluded pediatric populations and minority children.
- Understanding these associations in diverse pediatric groups is crucial for targeted asthma management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) categories and asthma control in children and adolescents.
- To determine if age and race/ethnicity modify the relationship between BMI and asthma control in boys and girls.
Main Methods:
- Recruitment of 2,174 children and adolescents (ages 8-19) with asthma from the GALA II and SAGE II studies.
- Utilized ordinal logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (OR) for worse asthma control.
- Adjusted analyses considered potential confounding factors.
Main Results:
- Obese boys showed a 33% increased likelihood of worse asthma control compared to normal-weight boys (OR, 1.33).
- The association between obesity and asthma control in girls varied significantly by race/ethnicity (P interaction = 0.008).
- Obese African American girls had better asthma control (OR, 0.65), while obese Mexican American girls had worse control (OR, 1.91) versus normal-weight peers.
Conclusions:
- Increased body mass index is consistently linked to poorer asthma control in boys.
- In girls, the impact of obesity on asthma control is race/ethnicity-dependent.
- Findings highlight the need for tailored asthma interventions considering sex, age, and racial/ethnic background.
Rationale:
Obesity is associated with increased asthma morbidity, lower drug responsiveness to inhaled corticosteroids, and worse asthma control. However, most prior investigations on obesity and asthma control have not focused on pediatric populations, considered environmental exposures, or included minority children.
Objectives:
To examine the association between body mass index categories and asthma control among boys and girls; and whether these associations are modified by age and race/ethnicity.
Methods:
Children and adolescents ages 8-19 years (n = 2,174) with asthma were recruited from the Genes-environments and Admixture in Latino Americans (GALA II) Study and the Study of African Americans, Asthma, Genes, and Environments (SAGE II). Ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and their confidence intervals (95% CI) for worse asthma control.
Measurements And Main Results:
In adjusted analyses, boys who were obese had a 33% greater chance of having worse asthma control than their normal-weight counterparts (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.04-1.71). However, for girls this association varied with race and ethnicity (P interaction = 0.008). When compared with their normal-weight counterparts, obese African American girls (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.41-1.05) were more likely to have better controlled asthma, whereas Mexican American girls had a 1.91 (95% CI, 1.12-3.28) greater odds of worse asthma control.
Conclusions:
Worse asthma control is uniformly associated with increased body mass index in boys. Among girls, the direction of this association varied with race/ethnicity.
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