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Body mass index may modify asthma prevalence among low-birth-weight children
- Source :
- American journal of epidemiology. 176(1)
- Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Childhood asthma, a growing health concern, has been associated with low birth weight and elevated body mass index. This study tested the hypothesis that overweight and obese adolescents with a history of low birth weight are at even greater risk of developing asthma. A cohort of 75,871 junior high school students was screened for asthma during 1995–1996 in Taiwan. Birth weight and estimated gestational age were obtained from the birth registry. Logistic regression and simple regression analyses were adjusted for confounding variables. Asthma was more prevalent in those with birth weights below 3,000 g and higher adolescent body mass indexes. Furthermore, those with both characteristics were consistently most likely to have asthma. Whether the asthma diagnosis among low-birth-weight subjects was assigned by physicians or medical questionnaire, the risks were elevated for both overweight (physician diagnosis: odds ratio ¼ 1.41; medical questionnaire: odds ratio ¼ 1.25) and obese (physician diagnosis: odds ratio ¼ 1.38; medical questionnaire: odds ratio ¼ 1.47) boys as well as overweight (physician diagnosis: odds ratio ¼ 1.63; medical questionnaire: odds ratio ¼ 1.30) and obese (physician diagnosis: odds ratio ¼ 1.44; medical questionnaire: odds ratio ¼ 1.32) girls (P < 0.05). Low birth weight predisposes one to develop asthma, and excess body mass amplifies the risk. A sex difference was observed. This study suggests that prenatal care and nutritional counseling could reduce asthma prevalence.
- Subjects :
- Male
Pediatrics
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Epidemiology
Birth weight
Taiwan
Prenatal care
Overweight
Body Mass Index
Sex Factors
medicine
Odds Ratio
Prevalence
Humans
Mass Screening
Obesity
Registries
Child
Asthma
business.industry
Infant, Newborn
Odds ratio
Infant, Low Birth Weight
medicine.disease
Health Surveys
Respiratory Function Tests
Low birth weight
Cross-Sectional Studies
Logistic Models
Female
medicine.symptom
business
Body mass index
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14766256
- Volume :
- 176
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- American journal of epidemiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....143cfa19d4a3664c98945bf3f24ca864