The Relationship of Body Mass Index and Asthma in Children

Finding risk factors for asthma is important for the prevention and treatment of it in children. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of asthma and body mass index (BMI) in children. In this cross-sectional study, 138 children with asthma and 138 children without asthma were evaluated during 8 months period (2005-2006). For case group, children were selected consecutively from the clinic of respiratory diseases, Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, and for control group, children were selected randomly from those without any respiratory symptoms referred to Ebn-Sina Health Center, Isfahan. Weight and height of children were measured and body mass index was and was classified according to standard growth charts. There was no difference between the two groups in age or gender (P > 0.05). Mean weight of case group (38.6 ± 13 kg) was significantly lower than that of control group (53.2 ± 15.2 kg) (P < 0.001). According to body mass index, children with asthma were more in normal weight group, in contrast to children without asthma who were more in over weight group. In children with asthma, body mass index was not correlated with gender, FEV1, or severity of asthma (P > 0.05). In contrast to most of previous studies, in our study population, asthma was not associated with higher body mass index. Also, body mass index was not correlated with severity of asthma. Prospective and preventive studies are recommended to clarify this issue.