Respiratory health in overweight and obese Chinese children.
OBJECTIVE
Childhood obesity has been suggested to be associated with asthma and impairment of pulmonary functions, but the findings are conflicting. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of body mass index (BMI) with asthma, asthma-like symptoms, and lung functions in Chinese schoolchildren.


METHODS
Data from a survey of 2,179 children aged 10.04 +/- 0.85 years in Guangzhou, China were analyzed. Children's history of respiratory symptoms/diseases and other potential confounders were obtained by standardized questionnaires. Anthropometric and spirometry tests were performed in all subjects. Children were categorized as "normal weight," "overweight," and "obesity" using Chinese Obesity cut-off points based on age- and gender-specific BMI values.


RESULTS
Being overweight was significantly associated with an increased risk of cough with cold (odds ratio, OR 1.60; 95% CI 1.01-2.55) in boys, and phlegm with cold (OR 2.46; 95% CI 1.25-4.85) and cough without cold (OR 2.91; 95% CI 1.05-8.08) in girls. Being obese was positively associated with an increased risk of phlegm with cold (OR 1.69; 95% CI 1.04-2.87) in boys, and wheezing (OR 3.82; 95% CI 1.28-11.42) and wheezing with cold in girls (OR 8.75; 95% CI 2.11-36.34). The forced vital capacity (FVC) increased with BMI in all children, overweight boys and obese girls also had significantly higher forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV(1)) than those with normal weight.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings demonstrate that overweight and obesity are high risks for children's respiratory symptoms and diseases. Pulmonary function was not adversely affected by obesity in schoolchildren.
He
Qi-qiang
QQ
Department of Community and Family Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong, PR China.
Wong
Tze-wai
TW
Du
Lin
L
Jiang
Zhuo-qin
ZQ
Qiu
Hong
H
Gao
Yang
Y
Liu
Jia-wei
JW
Wu
Jia-gang
JG
Yu
Ignatius Tak-sun
IT
D000367:Age Factors; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011336:Probability; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D014797:Vital Capacity