– Obese children are more likely to develop asthma

According to an American study, overweight or obese children and adolescents may be more likely to develop asthma.
The researchers say in the journal Pediatrics, or pediatric medicine, that research has long been linked to obesity and asthma in adults, but that it provides conflicting evidence for young people .

This study tracked more than 500,000 children, ages two to 17, on average, aged two to seventeen. 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, based on tests known as breathing tests, which show how easily air is released through the lungs they found the correlation 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: Obesity can also lead to the appearance of risk factors for metabolic heart disease such as high cholesterol and inability to use insulin, a hormone, to get energy from the blood sugar, which can lead to obstruction of the airways.

"Several studies have shown that weight loss dramatically improves the symptoms of asthma, but it's unclear how this happens," Lang said.
Assuming there is no excess weight or obesity in children, 10% of asthma cases would be avoided, the researchers said.