Obese Children have Double the Risk for Asthma

A lot of studies have been conducted in the past about childhood obesity. Giving a baby food too early is said to raise obesity risk, and myths abound on the relation of genes and obesity.

How can you tell if your child is already obese? Some indicators include a higher than normal body mass index (BMI) and getting easily restless or exhausted from activities. Factors such as genetics and a sedentary lifestyle can also contribute to this, and complications such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol levels in the blood, and sleep disorders may arise.

In a recent study, obese kids are said to have a higher risk of getting asthma. Obesity and asthma both involve a high production of cytokines, proteins which produce inflammatory effects, when triggered by certain stimuli. 

With these findings, physicians at the 2nd Annual Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Meeting in Barcelona presented the theory that obese children have double the risk of getting asthma versus their slimmer counterparts. 

Another study conducted by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, involving 129,000 mothers in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as their 189,000 children, revealed that very obese mothers (those with a BMI above 35), were 61 percent more prone to having kids developing asthma by age 6 to 10. 

Aside from this discovery, the children would also need medication to control the asthma, and they would also be more likely to be brought to the hospital because of their asthma.