Obese children are more likely to develop asthma

According to an American study, overweight or obese children and adolescents are more likely to develop asthma.

Research in the journal Pediatrics suggests that research has long linked adult obesity to asthma, but it provides conflicting evidence in this regard among young people.

This study followed more than 500,000 children ages two to 17, on average, aged two to 17 years. Result: about 8% of these children suffered from asthma.

The study found that overweight children were 17% more likely to suffer from asthma than healthy weight children. Young people with obesity were 26% more likely to develop asthma.

When researchers examined the link between asthma and obesity with the help of tests known as breathing tests, which show how easily air is released through the lungs , they found that the correlation was stronger. The study concluded that obesity is associated with a 29% increase in the risk of asthma based on this more accurate diagnostic criterion.

"Experts believe that abnormal lung growth associated with obesity causes airway obstruction," said Jason Lang, of Duke University's Faculty of Medicine in Durham, in northern Ontario. California, and lead author of the study.

He added that obesity could also carry the risk of developing so-called metabolic heart diseases, such as high cholesterol, and the impossibility of using insulin. to obtain energy through blood sugar, which can lead to obstruction of the airways.

"Several studies have shown that asthma symptoms significantly improve weight loss, but we do not know how that happens," Lang said.

Assuming there is no excess weight or obesity in children, 10% of asthma cases would be avoided, the researchers said.

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