Investigating the association between obesity and asthma in 6-to 8-year-old Saudi children: a matched case-control study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between obesity and asthma, but there remains considerable uncertainty about whether this reflects an underlying causal relationship. AIMS: To investigate the association between obesity and asthma in pre-pubertal children and to investigate the roles of airway obstruction and atopy as possible causal mechanisms. METHODS: We conducted an age- and sex-matched case-control study of 1,264 6- to 8-year-old schoolchildren with and without asthma recruited from 37 randomly selected schools in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and skin fold thickness of the 632 children with asthma were compared with those of the 632 control children without asthma. Associations between obesity and asthma, adjusted for other potential risk factors, were assessed separately in boys and girls using conditional logistic regression analysis. The possible mediating roles of atopy and airway obstruction were studied by investigating the impact of incorporating data on sensitisation to common aeroallergens and measurements of lung function. RESULTS: BMI was associated with asthma in boys (odds ratio (OR) = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-1.20; adjusted OR = 1.11, 95% CI, 1.03-1.19) and girls (OR = 1.37, 95% CI, 1.26-1.50; adjusted OR = 1.38, 95% CI, 1.23-1.56). Adjusting for forced expiratory volume in 1 s had a negligible impact on these associations, but these were attenuated following adjustment for allergic sensitisation, particularly in girls (girls: OR = 1.25; 95% CI, 0.96-1.60; boys: OR = 1.09, 95% CI, 0.99-1.19). CONCLUSIONS: BMI is associated with asthma in pre-pubertal Saudi boys and girls; this effect does not appear to be mediated through respiratory obstruction, but in girls this may at least partially be mediated through increased risk of allergic sensitisation.