title: Associations between asthma, overweight and physical activity in children: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: Asthma and obesity are highly prevalent in children, and are interrelated resulting in a difficult-to-treat asthma-obesity phenotype. The exact underlying mechanisms of this phenotype remain unclear, but decreased physical activity (PA) could be an important lifestyle factor. We hypothesize that both asthma and overweight/obesity decrease PA levels and interact on PA levels in asthmatic children with overweight/obesity.
  
  
  
  School-aged children (n = 122) were divided in 4 groups (healthy control, asthma, overweight/obesity and asthma, and overweight/obesity). Children were asked to perform lung function tests and wear an activity monitor for 7 days. PA was determined by: step count, active time, screen time, time spent in organized sports and active transport forms. We used multiple linear regression techniques to investigate whether asthma, body mass index-standard deviation score (BMI-SDS), or the interaction term asthma x BMI-SDS were associated with PA. Additionally, we tested if asthma features (including lung function and medication) were related to PA levels in asthmatic children.
  
  
  
  Asthma, BMI-SDS and the interaction between asthma x BMI-SDS were not related to any of the PA variables (p ≥ 0.05). None of the asthma features could predict PA levels (p ≥ 0.05). Less than 1 in 5 children reached the recommended daily step count guidelines of 12,000 steps/day.
  
  
  
  We found no significant associations between asthma, overweight and PA levels in school-aged children in this study. However, as PA levels were worryingly low, effective PA promotion in school-aged children is necessary.
authors: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC), Maastricht, The Netherlands. maartje.willeboordse@maastrichtuniversity.nl.|Department of Family Medicine, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. maartje.willeboordse@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors: Maartje
authors: 0000-0002-9695-9755
authors: M
authors: Willeboordse
authors: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC), Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Department of Family Medicine, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Kim D G
authors: KD
authors: van de Kant
authors: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Charlotte A
authors: CA
authors: van der Velden
authors: Department of Family Medicine, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Constant P
authors: CP
authors: van Schayck
authors: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Edward
authors: E
authors: Dompeling
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Activity; Body mass index; Exercise; Overweight; Pediatrics