Obesity and asthma in 11-12 year old New Zealand children in 1989 and 2000.
BACKGROUND
There has been a concurrent increase in the prevalence of obesity and asthma in recent years in New Zealand and other countries.


METHODS
Two cross sectional surveys performed in 1989 and 2000 were used to test this association in children of mean age 11.7 years. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight/height2 (kg/m2) and obesity and overweight defined according to an international standard. Standard questions were used to measure the prevalence of asthma symptoms.


RESULTS
Significant increases in the prevalence of reported symptoms and disease between 1989 and 2000 were not explained by a concurrent increase in the prevalence of obesity. In 2000, multivariate analysis showed that increasing BMI standard deviation score was significantly associated with current wheeze (p=0.002), inhaled steroid use (p=0.004), and the use of any medication (p=0.001). None of the associations was significantly different for boys or girls.


CONCLUSIONS
There is some evidence for an association of obesity with asthma symptoms and treatment but this does not explain the increasing prevalence of this disease.
Wickens
K
K
Wellington Asthma Research Group, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, P O Box 7343, Wellington South, New Zealand. kwickens@wnmeds.ac.nz
Barry
D
D
Friezema
A
A
Rhodius
R
R
Bone
N
N
Purdie
G
G
Crane
J
J
D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires