ASTHMA

Obesity and asthma in 11–12 year old New Zealand children in 1989 and 2000

K Wickens¹, D Barry², A Friezema³, R Rhodius³, N Bone², G Purdie⁴, J Crane¹

¹ Wellington Asthma Research Group, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, New Zealand
² Healthcare Hawkes Bay, Hastings, New Zealand
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
⁴ Department of Public Health, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, New Zealand

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
K Wickens
Wellington Asthma Research Group, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, P O Box 7343, Wellington South, New Zealand; kwickens{at}wnmeds.ac.nz

Background: There has been a concurrent increase in the prevalence of obesity and asthma in recent years in New Zealand and other countries.

Methods: Two cross sectional surveys performed in 1989 and 2000 were used to test this association in children of mean age 11.7 years. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight/height² (kg/m²) and obesity and overweight defined according to an international standard. Standard questions were used to measure the prevalence of asthma symptoms.

Results: Significant increases in the prevalence of reported symptoms and disease between 1989 and 2000 were not explained by a concurrent increase in the prevalence of obesity. In 2000, multivariate analysis showed that increasing BMI standard deviation score was significantly associated with current wheeze (p = 0.002), inhaled steroid use (p = 0.004), and the use of any medication (p = 0.001). None of the associations was significantly different for boys or girls.

Conclusion: There is some evidence for an association of obesity with asthma symptoms and treatment but this does not explain the increasing prevalence of this disease.

Keywords: asthma; obesity; children

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