Childhood obesity increases the chance of hospital admission for asthma
November 4th, 2007 | by Timothy Kintzel, M.D. |
Overweight children who present to the emergency department with acute asthma are significantly more likely to be admitted to the hospital than nonoverweight children. This is what was found in a recent study published in the journal, Pediatrics. Although childhood obesity has been associated with increased hospital lengths of stay for patients with asthma, the possible relationship between obesity and hospital admission for asthma has not previously been well studied. The investigators from Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, CT, reviewed the charts of all children who were older than 2 years that presented to the emergency department with an asthma attack in the year 2005. From this data, they noted the percent of those who were admitted that were defined as overweight (> 95th percentile of weight for their age) and compared that to the ones who were admitted that were not. They excluded children who had other chronic medical conditions. What they found was that overall, hospital admission was associated with being overweight but not with age, gender, or socio-economic status. The authors go on to state that obesity represents an area of significant impact on the health of children with asthma.
Reference: Carroll et al. Pediatrics ( 2007 Oct;120(4):734-40)
Tags: Asthma, children, health, hospital, Obesity, overweight, pediatrics