title: Association of higher adiposity and wheezing in infants with lower respiratory illnesses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The incidences of asthma and obesity have been steadily increasing over the past two decades, with several studies showing a relationship between these conditions. We investigated the influence of higher weight for height (WFH) Z-score on wheezing in infants with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the medical charts of all infants younger than l year of age who were admitted with the first episode of LRTI between 2000 and 2008. Subjects were classified into six groups according to WFH Z-score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Wheezing was more frequent in infants with higher WFH Z-scores. Especially, wheezing infants aged 3-6 months and 6-9 months had significantly higher WFH Z-scores than had their non-wheezing counterparts (p = 0.05 and p < 0.01 respectively). Multivariate logistic regression showed that age (OR = 0.76, p < 0.001), male gender (OR = 1.61, p = 0.005) and WFH Z-score (OR = 1.12, p = 0.007) were independently associated with wheezing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study we could show that a higher WFH Z-score was independently associated with wheezing in infancy. Attainment of appropriate weight for age may reduce the risk of wheezing in infants with respiratory diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Mi
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Jee
authors.forename: Hyun Kyong
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Se Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.forename: Eun Gyong
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Cheol Hong
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Man Yong
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015430:Weight Gain