Rates of childhood asthma and obesity have been on the rise in the past few decades. Doctors have observed that children diagnosed with asthma often have a higher body mass index (BMI) associated with obesity. These observations lead ECHO researchers Nikos Stratakis, PhD and Erika Garcia, PhD, MPH of the University of Southern California to investigate the co-occurrence of asthma and obesity in children and the role of asthma treatment in this relationship. The abstract for this research, titled “The Role of Childhood Asthma in Obesity Development: A Nationwide U.S. Multi-cohort Study,” is now available online. Full study results will be published in the January 2022 issue of Epidemiology.
The study tracked more than 8,000 children and teens from 18 different ECHO cohorts across the U.S. between the ages of 6 to 18.5 years, with an average follow up of five years. The researchers selected participants who were not affected by obesity at the beginning of the study and looked at whether they developed obesity—defined as having a BMI in the top 5% for their age and sex—over the course of the study. The researchers also collected information on whether the children had received a diagnosis of asthma and whether they were treated with asthma medication. During the study, around 26% of the children were diagnosed with asthma and 11% developed obesity.
The study found that children with asthma were 23% more likely to develop obesity compared to children without asthma. However, children with asthma who used asthma medication at a higher proportion had a 64% lower risk of developing obesity compared to children with asthma who used asthma medication at a lower proportion.
“This study showed us that children with asthma may be more likely to develop obesity as they get older,” said Stratakis, “and asthma medication may reduce this likelihood.”
In the future, researchers may want to look more closely at the factors mediating the link between asthma and obesity, like levels of physical activity and sleep quality. Also, more research needs to be done to investigate how asthma medication reduces obesity risk and whether it could be an effective obesity prevention strategy for children with asthma. “It’s possible that asthma medication use leads to higher physical activity in children with asthma,” said Garcia, “which then lowers the risk of obesity later in childhood.”
