Relationships Between BMI, Asthma Symptom Report & Activity Limitations: Findings from the Child Health Information Reporting Project (CHIRP)

Mary Pat Frintner, Linda Radecki, Lynn M Olson, American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL

 

Background: Asthma & overweight are major childhood health problems with increasing prevalence.  Studies have reported on the association between pediatric asthma & overweight, but there is little information on how body mass index (BMI) relates to asthma symptoms & activity limitations.

 

Objective: Compare asthma symptoms & activity limitations for overweight, at risk for overweight & normal weight children.

 

Design/Methods: Children (age 7-16) and a parent completed questionnaires about the child?s health.  Children were weighed & BMI values calculated/categorized per CDC guidelines: overweight (BMI for age > 95^th percentile), at risk for overweight (> 85^th - < 95^th), or normal/underweight (< 85^th).  Chi-square & analysis of variance were used as appropriate.

 

Results: 401 child-parent pairs completed the study.  58% of children were male, 46% African American, 39% Caucasian, 12% Hispanic.  28% were overweight, 15% at risk for overweight & 58% normal/underweight.  More overweight children were African American (65%) & from lower income households (29%), p < 0.05. Parents of overweight (12%) & at risk (19%) children reported child?s health as fair/poor more often than parents of normal weight children (5%), p<0.01.  No differences were found in parental rating of asthma severity or persistence, but there were differences in asthma symptoms.  62% of overweight & 59% of at risk children experienced one or more asthma symptoms at least some of the time vs 48% of normal weight children (p<0.05).  These children also had more asthma attacks (1.25 and 1.53 respectively) compared to normal weight children (.57), p<0.01.  For parent reported activity limitations due to asthma, 32% of overweight, 31% of at risk, & 18% of normal weight children were limited at least some of the time from very strenuous activities (running fast/ playing hard), p<0.01.  Parents of overweight children also reported more days that their children had to reduce play/activities due to asthma compared to normal weight children (2.35 vs. 1.18), p<0.01.

 

Conclusions:  Overweight & at risk children may experience worse health, more asthma symptoms, & greater activity limitations than children of normal weight.  Efforts should focus on understanding asthma & overweight comorbidity and preventing high BMI in children with asthma.