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Children's BMI increase not associated with atopic, respiratory disease

A significant association between increased BMI from childhood to adolescence and higher incidence of atopic or respiratory diseases could not be established in recent study results.

Researchers in Germany conducted questionnaires and anthropometric measurements in a random subsample of children, aged 9 to 11 years, in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood phase II from 1995 to 1996. Seven years later, 1,794 of those patients (852 in Dresden, 48.4% boys; 942 in Munich; 46.5% boys) were included in the Study on Occupational Allergy Risks.

“The associations between changes of BMI from baseline to follow-up and incident and persistent respiratory diseases [asthma, rhinitis and rhinoconjunctivitis] and atopic dermatitis were assessed,” the researchers reported.

Weight gain or loss had no statistically significant association with incidence or persistence of any of the studied diseases, according to bivariate analyses. A statistically significant increased risk for persistent rhinitis was observed in participants with increased BMI (OR=1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.4). Increased risk for incident rhinitis also was linked to an increase in BMI (OR=1.9; 95% CI, 1.2-2.9).

“This study shows a nonsignificant trend in the association between BMI change and the incidence of atopic diseases during puberty,” the researchers concluded. “Although some results indicate a link between weight change and the incidence and persistence of rhinitis, these are rather weak associations. Therefore, this study underlines the importance of taking into account the life course of overweight and obesity in the analyses of asthma and atopy.”

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.