The effect of BMI on level of asthma control in children

Background Asthma and obesity are two of the most common chronic conditions affecting pediatric populations. Many studies have shown that overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk of asthma in children. During the past 20 years, the simultaneous increase in the prevalence of both obesity and asthma has raised the possibility that the two may be causally linked. Patients and methods The present study was conducted on 100 children and/or adolescents previously diagnosed to have bronchial asthma and maintained on controller medications attending the asthma clinic at Alexandria University Smouha hospital (AUSH). Children were assessed for asthma control according to GINA guidelines and their BMI calculated and interpreted. Aim This work aimed to determine the effect of BMI on the level of asthma control among Egyptian children. Results In all 53% of the participants had normal BMI, 25% were obese,14% were overweight, and 8% were underweight. According to the parameters of GINA guidelines, 45% of studied children were controlled, 19% were partially controlled and 36% were uncontrolled. It was found that there is a significant negative correlation between the level of asthma control and BMI ( P <0.005). 77.8% of the controlled asthmatics had an average BMI, on the other hand, 50% of uncontrolled cases were obese. This denotes that asthma control and BMI are inversely related. Also, it was found that 48% of obese patients were maintained on high dose steroids, on the other hand, only 9% of patients with normal BMI were maintained on high dose steroids. Conclusion BMI affects asthma control significantly, and they are inversely related. Obese asthma phenotype is a special asthma phenotype, it has poor asthma control and frequent exacerbations. Obese asthmatics have poor response to inhaled steroids and are maintained on high dose inhaled steroids.