title: Overweight is associated with allergy in school children of Taiwan and Vietnam but not Japan.
abstract: We collected information concerning diagnosed allergy from 2027 school children in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Children were classified according to the age and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) per-age as indicator of weight status. Logistic regression was performed to examine the relationship between percentiles of BMI-per-age and allergy. Compared with children at the lowest percentile group Taiwanese children at > 85th percentile group showed a tendency toward higher risk of allergy (OR = 1.79, 95% CI 0.98 to 3.27; p = 0.060). When children with rhino-conjunctivitis were excluded from the analysis the association reached statistical significance (OR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.08 to 7.75; p = 0.035). Vietnamese children at > 85th percentile group showed a significantly higher risk of allergy (OR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.06 to 5.17; p = 0.035). This association was not observed when children with atopic dermatitis or food allergy were excluded from the analysis, although a tendency toward increased risk of allergy at BMI-per-age > 85th percentile remained. Our study sample of Japanese school children showed no association between being overweight and allergy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Graduate School of Human Culture, Nara Women's University, Nara, Japan.
authors.forename: Amalia Veronica
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Irei
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Tzu-Li
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ming-Fu
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yin-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Nguyen Thi Kim
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kunii
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Masayo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneda
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology