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A study that includes data on the health of over 500,000 children in the United States suggests that obesity could be implicated for about a quarter (23-27%) of children. Asthma in obese children, according to researchers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and collaborators of the National System of Pediatric Health and Learning (PEDSnet), United States.
This could mean that about 10% of all children with asthma aged 2 to 17 years, nearly 1 million children in the United States, could have avoided the disease by maintaining a healthy weight, according to research findings, published Monday in the journal "Pediatrics". "Asthma is the number 1 chronic disease in children and some of the causes, such as genetics and viral infections during childhood, are things that we can not prevent – states the & # 39; Lead author Jason E. Lang, associate professor at Pediatrics in Duke–.
Obesity can be the only risk factor for childhood asthma which can be avoided. This is another proof that it is important to keep children active and maintain a healthy weight. "For this retrospective study, researchers analyzed data from 507,496 children over 19 million physician visits in six major child health centers.The data were included in a clinical research data network called PEDSnet. between 2009 and 2015.
The classified asthmatic children had been diagnosed with at least two medical appointments and had also been prescribed a medication, such as an inhaler. In addition, tests of their lung function confirmed that they were suffering from the disease. Children classified as obese – with a 95th percentile or greater body mass index (BMI) for their age and sex – had 30% more risk of developing asthma as healthy weight companions.
Asthma also affects overweight children
Asthma did not affect that obese people. Children who were overweight but not obese (BMI between 85 and 94%) also had a 17% higher risk of asthma than their healthy partners. The researchers calculated the risk of asthma using several models and, after taking into account risk factors such as sex, age, socio-economic status and allergies, the results remained Similar.
This could mean that about 10% of all asthmatic children aged 2 to 17, or nearly one million children in the United States, could have prevented the disease by maintaining a healthy weight .
According to Lang, the study has several limitations, including the fact that the data were collected during physician visits and not in a controlled clinical research setting. Lang believes that more experiences are needed to prove that overweight and obesity are directly responsible changes leading to asthma because scientists do not really understand how or why it happens.
The researchers explored hypotheses, including possible differences in the development of the lungs and airways of children overweight, as well as inflammatory changes in the body due to obesity, Lang explains. However, these and other results, such as the way asthma improves often With weight loss, they suggest that obesity plays a key role or is directly culpable, Lang says.
"I think it's reasonable to fear that it's a cause-and-effect relationship," Lang says. "It seems that overweight or obesity increases dramatically in the child. your risk of developing asthmaand this is a significant increase, which again draws attention to the importance of preventing obesity at a young age. "
By: ECOticias.com / Network / Agencies
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