Early childhood asthma and adiposity until adolescence: a prospective birth cohort study

In a Prospective Birth Cohort Study of 4717 Portuguese children, children with asthma (n=181) at age 4 was positively associated with subsequent obesity defined by body fat percentage. Out of the mothers of children with asthma, 61.6% had normal weight vs. 66.6% of mothers whose children did not have asthma.

Maternal gestational weight gain categories also differed (p= .038), with excessive Gestational Weight Gain more common among mothers of children with asthma (45.2% vs. 36.0%). Maternal education, smoking during pregnancy, breastfeeding, parity and birth weight did not differ significantly between groups.

Among girls, asthma was associated with a significantly higher risk of incident obesity defined by body fat percentage but no significant associations were observed among boys. Moreover, it was not consistently associated with incidence of obesity defined by BMI.

Further research is needed into the mechanisms of these findings and the opportunities for intervention.

The authors recognised limitations, including that the cut-offs for body fat were based on UK reference values, which may not be relevant to a Portuguese cohort.

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