Children who are overweight at the age 6 to 7 years are at a higher risk for having symptoms of asthma like shortness of breath and twitchy airways when they are 8 years old.
Children who are overweight at the age 6 to 7 years are at a higher risk for having symptoms of asthma like shortness of breath and twitchy airways when they are 8 years old.
However, children who are overweight at a younger age but reach a normal weight by age 6 to 7 do not appear to have an increased risk for asthma symptoms.
Researchers from Netherlands studied 3,756 children to investigate the relationship between asthma symptoms in childhood and overweight and changes in overweight status in children age 1 to 8 years. The parents reported their children's weight and episodes of wheezing or other breathing difficulties as well as the use of inhaled steroids in yearly questionnaires for 8 years. The researchers tested the children to see how sensitive their airways were to various inhaled allergens.
It was found that when the children were 8 years old, 275 (7.3 percent) wheezed, 361 (9.6 percent) had difficulty breathing and 268 (7.1 percent) had a prescription for an inhaled steroid in the preceding year.
Children who were persistently overweight from a very young age and between age 6 and 7 years were 68 percent more likely to have breathing difficulties and 66 percent more likely to have twitchy airways at age 8 than children who were leaner in childhood. Children who were heavier at a very young age, but who developed a normal weight at age 6 to 7 did not have an increased risk of breathing difficulties.
These findings suggest that being overweight in early childhood may affect a child's development of asthma symptoms but does not have a lasting effect on breathing difficulties if the child develops a normal weight by 8 years.
However, children who are overweight at a younger age but reach a normal weight by age 6 to 7 do not appear to have an increased risk for asthma symptoms.
Researchers from Netherlands studied 3,756 children to investigate the relationship between asthma symptoms in childhood and overweight and changes in overweight status in children age 1 to 8 years. The parents reported their children's weight and episodes of wheezing or other breathing difficulties as well as the use of inhaled steroids in yearly questionnaires for 8 years. The researchers tested the children to see how sensitive their airways were to various inhaled allergens.
It was found that when the children were 8 years old, 275 (7.3 percent) wheezed, 361 (9.6 percent) had difficulty breathing and 268 (7.1 percent) had a prescription for an inhaled steroid in the preceding year.
Children who were persistently overweight from a very young age and between age 6 and 7 years were 68 percent more likely to have breathing difficulties and 66 percent more likely to have twitchy airways at age 8 than children who were leaner in childhood. Children who were heavier at a very young age, but who developed a normal weight at age 6 to 7 did not have an increased risk of breathing difficulties.
These findings suggest that being overweight in early childhood may affect a child's development of asthma symptoms but does not have a lasting effect on breathing difficulties if the child develops a normal weight by 8 years.
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