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General, but not abdominal, overweight increases odds of asthma among Norwegian adolescents: the Young‐ HUNT study
Author(s) -
Egan Kathryn B.,
Ettinger Adrienne S.,
DeWan Andrew T.,
Holford Theodore R.,
Holmen Turid Lingaas,
Bracken Michael B.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12775
Subject(s) - medicine , asthma , overweight , odds ratio , body mass index , underweight , abdominal obesity , waist , obesity , population , cross sectional study , confidence interval , pediatrics , environmental health , pathology
Aim The aim of this analysis was to examine the association between asthma and general and abdominal weight status, defined by age‐ and sex‐specific cut‐offs for body mass index ( BMI ) and waist circumference ( WC ) in adolescents. Methods Participants aged 12–19 years in the Young‐ HUNT ( YH ) Study ( YH 1 1995–1997: n = 8222; YH 3 2006–2008: n = 7403) completed self‐administered questionnaires in school as part of a series of cross‐sectional, population‐based studies conducted in Nord‐Trøndelag, Norway. Weight, height and WC were measured. Adjusted odds ratios ( OR s) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) for asthma, defined by self‐reported physician diagnosis, were calculated. Potential effect modifiers evaluated included sex and pubertal development status ( PDS ). Results Asthma was reported by 11.8% of the adolescents in YH 1 and 17.0% in YH 3. Asthma odds significantly increased for adolescents with general ( OR = 1.33; 95%CI: 1.13, 1.56), but not abdominal, overweight and increased for adolescents with general ( OR = 1.34; 95%CI: 1.02, 1.75) or abdominal obesity ( OR = 1.36; 95%CI: 1.16, 1.60). Underweight had no association with asthma regardless of weight assessment type, and PDS did not meaningfully influence the associations between asthma and weight. Conclusion Overweight and obesity both increased the odds of asthma in 12–19 year‐old Norwegians. WC did not add further information to that already provided by BMI to improve our understanding of the association between asthma and weight.