Childhood Obesity and Asthma Linked
Correlation Between Weight and Respiratory Symptoms in Children
Dec 21, 2008
Recent research has revealed a correlation between childhood obesity and asthma. In a recent study, children that were not active and who were not active were more likely to have narrowed airways after exercise.
Narrowing of the airways and inflammation are the mechanisms of asthma, cause bronchial symptoms and discomfort.
K-State Research
Sara Rosenkranz, a doctoral student in human nutrition at Kansas State University has conducted research that has found that healthy children with higher levels of body fat and lower levels of physical activity had greater amounts of airway narrowing after exercise.
"Kids who are overweight and inactive are having -- even at the age of 8 to 10 years old -- a negative response to exercise challenge tests, which might be contributing to the increase that we've been seeing over the past several decades in asthma prevalence as well as obesity prevalence," Rosenkranz said.
The study recruited 40 children in the 8 to 10 year old age range for the exercise studies. All of the children were healthy, were not on medication and had not had a diagnosis or history of chronic disease.
The children had pulmonary function tests, which is an exercise test that doctors conduct to determine if children have asthma. The children also had body composition tests.
Questionnaires were filed out by the children to determine if they were active or inactive, compared to standards of their age, gender and ethnicity.
After the exercise challenge, researchers did tests to find out if their airways were narrow after exercise. Researchers discovered that children with higher levels of body fat and lower levels of activity were more likely to have asthma-like symptoms after exercise. The symptoms were similar to exercise-induced asthma.
Symptoms of Asthma
According the Mayo Clinic website, Exercise induced asthma is triggered by physical activity. Symptoms of exercise induce asthma include coughing, wheezing, chest tightness or pain, shortness of breath, fatigue during exercise, poor athletic performance and a long recovery time after exercise.
During an asthma attack the inside walls of the airways in the lungs become inflamed and swollen, making the muscles around airways very sensitive. The narrowed airways and obstructed airflow leads to coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
It would make sense that symptoms of exercise induced asthma could cause exercise to be uncomfortable, preventing children from physical activity. Lack of exercise is a known factor to obesity.
According to Rosenkranz, when an asthma diagnosis is made, it is important that the child remain active to prevent airway problems.
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