Asthma and obesity in adolescents: is there an association?

To determine if obesity is more prevalent in adolescents with asthma compared with nonasthmatic adolescents and to determine if obesity is associated with more severe asthma, we studied 265 adolescent asthmatics 12-21 years of age and 482 nonasthmatic adolescents. The prevalence of obesity in the as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of asthma Vol. 38; no. 6; p. 509
Main Authors Brenner, J S, Kelly, C S, Wenger, A D, Brich, S M, Morrow, A L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.01.2001
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Asthma - complications
Asthma - epidemiology
Case-Control Studies
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Obesity - complications
Obesity - epidemiology
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
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Summary:To determine if obesity is more prevalent in adolescents with asthma compared with nonasthmatic adolescents and to determine if obesity is associated with more severe asthma, we studied 265 adolescent asthmatics 12-21 years of age and 482 nonasthmatic adolescents. The prevalence of obesity in the asthmatic group was 20% compared to 17% in the control group. The prevalence of being at risk of overweight was similar for asthmatics (16%) and controls (15%). The prevalence of obesity in moderate to severe asthmatics (21%) was not different from prevalence of obesity in mild asthmatics (19%) or controls (17%). In this study of primarily African-American urban adolescents, obesity was not associated with asthma or more severe asthma.
ISSN:0277-0903
DOI:10.1081/JAS-100105872