Fatemeh Behmanesh, Mohammad Khaje Daluee, Mina Sadat Mohajerzadeh

Introduction: Increase in the prevalence of obesity and asthma over recent decades has been reported in the literature. Various studies have shown a correlation between increased body mass index (BMI) and asthma prevalence.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a correlation between BMI and the severity of childhood asthma, which had been reported by limited studies before.

Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional study in outpatient Allergy Clinic at a University Hospital in Mashhad. BMI was calculated from recorded values of height and weight by the equation BMI=weight (kg)/[height (m)] 2. Asthma severity was defined by using the 2009 guidelines for asthma management and prevention, according to patient’s clinical parameters.

Results: A total of 242 patients, with a mean age of 55.91 ± 38.10 months were included. Forty point seven percent of the patients were females and the remaining 59.3% were males. Patients were presented with intermittent asthma, mild persistent asthma, moderate persistent asthma, and severe persistent asthma in 6.4%, 47.3%, 43.8%, and 2.5% respectively. We divided our patients to 3 groups according to age (group I<5 years old, group II, 5-10 years old, group III> 10 years old). In group I, severity of asthma and BMI were inversely related. In group II, correlation between BMI and severity of asthma was statistically insignificant. In group III, we found statistically significant relationship between values of BMI percentiles and severity of asthma.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the association between severity of asthma and BMI differ between adolescent and children.