Association of Body Composition with Asthma Control in Preschool Children

S U N D A Y 305 Association of Body Composition with Asthma Control in Preschool Children T. Itazawa, Y. Adachi, Y. S. Adachi, Y. Ito, Y. Okabe, K. Yoshida, Y. Ohya, H. Odajima, A. Akasawa, T. Miyawaki; Department of Pediatrics, University of Toyama, Toyama, JAPAN, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, JAPAN, Fukuoka National Hospital, Fukuoka, JAPAN, Tokyo Metropolitan Children’s Medical Center, Tokyo, JAPAN. RATIONALE: Obesity may increase the risk of subsequent asthma and make asthma control difficult. METHODS: To evaluate whether being obese or lean may affect asthma control, a cross-sectional and ISAAC-based survey was performed. A child who had experienced wheezing during the past 12 months and had ever diagnosed as asthma by a physician was defined as having current asthma. Asthma control was considered as inadequate, when a child had >_1 wheezing episode in the last 4 weeks. Overweight and underweight was defined as BMI >_90th and <_10th, respectively, according to the reference values for Japanese children during 1978 to 1981. RESULTS:Out of 34,699 children aged 4-5 years, 3,883 (11.2%) had current asthma. Asthma control was inadequate in 16.7% of underweight, in 12.6% of normoweight, and in 15.8% of overweight children with current asthma. There was a significant association between inadequate asthma control and body composition (p50.008). This association still remained even after adjusted for variables, such as gender, use of controllers, and parental history of asthma (adjusted OR: 1.39, p50.006 in underweight, adjusted OR: 1.35, p50.037 in overweight). CONCLUSIONS: In preschool children, being lean and obese is an independent risk factor for inadequate asthma control.