title: Is abdominal obesity associated with the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in Korean school-aged children?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Given their medical vulnerabilities, we investigated the epidemiological factors related to H1N1 infection in school-aged children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study analyzed data collected on 7448 school-aged children in South Korea between 18 November and 8 December 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that H1N1 infection was associated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), the use of facemasks, contact history with H1N1-infected persons, and overseas travel history (P < 0·05). In addition, WC quartiles were significantly associated with H1N1 infection after adjusting for BMI and other confounding variables [OR (95% CI): 1·00, 1·10 (0·72-1·45), 1·13 (0·76-1·67), and 2·71 (1·74-4·24), respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Abdominal obesity and the use of facemasks appear to be independently associated with H1N1 infection in school-aged children. We infer that providing education on wearing facemasks and specific planning for abdominally obese children and adolescents may be effective means of reducing the spread of the influenza pandemic in school-aged children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Choon Ok
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chung Mo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Duk-Chul
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ji Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students