The relationship between asthma and obesity in urban minority children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between asthma and obesity in children and adolescents.


METHODS
Medical record review.


METHODS
Urban community health center.


METHODS
One hundred seventy-one children aged 4 to 16 years, 85 with asthma and 86 nonasthmatic controls.


METHODS
Diagnosis of asthma, age, and sex-adjusted body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters).


RESULTS
Seventy-eight percent of the sample was Hispanic, 17% was African American, 2% were white, and 3% were other minorities. There were significantly more children with asthma (30.6%) who were very obese (> or =95th body mass index percentile) compared with controls (11.6%) (P=.004). Children with asthma were also significantly more overweight than controls (mean+/-SD, 22.5%+/-28.3% vs 12.0%+/-19.6% overweight; P=.004). The difference in obesity between children with asthma and controls was significant for both sexes and across the 4.5 to 10.9 years and 11 to 16 years age groups. Asthma severity was not related to obesity.


CONCLUSIONS
Asthma is a risk factor for obesity in children and adolescents.
Gennuso
J
J
Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14260, USA.
Epstein
L H
LH
Paluch
R A
RA
Cerny
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D009518:New York; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*