title: Body mass index and asthma in adults in families of subjects with asthma in Anqing, China.
abstract: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 7,109 adults from families of subjects with asthma in the province of Anhui, China. Asthma was defined either as a combination of physician-diagnosed asthma, airway responsiveness to methacholine at < or = 25 mg/ml and two or more respiratory symptoms or asthma attacks ("asthma"); or as a combination of airway responsiveness to methacholine at < or = 8 mg/ml and two or more respiratory symptoms or asthma attacks ("symptomatic airway hyperresponsiveness [AHR]"). After adjusting for intensity of cigarette smoking and other variables, both extremes of the body mass index (BMI) distribution were associated with symptomatic AHR in men and women (p < 0.01). In the multivariate analysis, both under- and overweight were associated with asthma in women, and underweight was associated with asthma in men. Among men, those with BMIs of 16 and 30 kg/m(2) had 2.5 and 2.3 times higher odds of symptomatic AHR, respectively, than those whose BMI was 21 kg/m(2) (95% CI for OR(16 vs. 21 kg/m)(2) = 1.4 to 3.8; 95% CI for OR(30) (vs.) (21) (kg/m)(2) = 1.2 to 5.0). Among women, those with BMIs of 16 and 30 kg/m(2) had 2.0 and 2.3 times higher odds of symptomatic AHR than those whose BMI was 21 kg/m(2) (95% CI for OR(16) (vs.) (21) (kg/m)(2) = 1.3 to 3.1; 95% CI(30) (vs.) (21) (kg/m)(2) = 1.2 to 4.5). Among adults in families of subjects with asthma living in rural China, both underweight and overweight are associated with an increased risk of asthma.
authors.affiliation: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. juan.celedon@channing.harvard.edu
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Celedón
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Litonjua
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D016085:Bronchoconstrictor Agents; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010375:Pedigree; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D013851:Thinness / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D016085:Bronchoconstrictor Agents; D016210:Methacholine Chloride